Opinion: Remain vigilant in pursuit of liberty
OPINION
By Vince Sullivan
Delaware Co. News Network Associated Editor
A man sat alone in a jail cell many years ago. It was the hope of his captors to break his spirit and end his crusade, the goal of which was equality for all. While he sat there, he penned a letter from that cell in Birmingham, Alabama. In it, he coined a phrase which frequently echoes in my mind in times of turmoil. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that in the upheaval that came with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, but I am inclined to apply the adage to a currently developing crisis in a small community nestled between two creeks in Delaware County.
At last week’s Colwyn Borough Council meeting, Council President Tonette Pray announced that no one would be allowed to take photographs at any meeting of the council without prior authorization. Her decision was explained by the borough’s solicitor, who said that cameras and picture-taking would distract council members from their business. I present the theory that council itself is a distraction from the proper governance of the town and its business.
After making the announcement, I challenged the solicitor to cite any case law, legal precedents or entries in any book of codes, ordinances or constitution that would justify such a prohibition. He could not. Upon returning home, I immediately looked up the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act, a law that prescribes the manner in which government meetings may be held, intending to create an open government for all citizens to monitor and take part. Section 711 of the Sunshine Act states, under a heading titled “Use of equipment during meetings,” that “a person attending a meeting of an agency shall have the right to use recording devices to record all the proceedings.” Seems pretty slam dunk, right?
I won’t speculate on any motives council had in making this rule, which wasn’t voted on by the council, just announced by its president, but the effect was certainly to limit public access to government. For a Democrat to take this action is appalling, not just because the party has been espousing a new age of transparency, but because this particular Democrat has been a vocal supporter of President Barack Obama. One of his first acts as president? To create government Web sites that provide for more openness and transparency in government.
As a journalist, I am keenly aware of the rights of citizens, including myself, when it comes to access to government proceedings and documents, not out of curiosity or happenstance, but by necessity. As the weeks go by, I am reminded more and more that elected officials all too often are seduced by the power given them by the people, and that power goes to their heads and makes them do things that, simply stated, are illegal. This is one of those cases. Whether this particular elected official thought her actions were justified and legal or she was given bad legal advice, or whether she said “to hell with legal, I do what I want,” I’ll never know.
What I do know is that this action violated the letter, spirit and intention of the Sunshine Act, a group of laws which benefits all Pennsylvanians, not just reporters. It is the right of every citizen to challenge their government when they feel their rights have been violated. More than that, though, it is the responsibility of every citizen to do so. If we do not fight for our rights then they will evaporate like morning dew on a blade of grass. The sun will rise in the sky, and we will all be left without the liberties that ensure our freedoms of religion, press, due process and speech.
There’s another famous quote that came to mind while all of this was happening last week. “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance.” A fellow most of us have never heard of, John Philpot Curran, said that in 1790 and it is as true now as it was 220 years ago. We must fight. We must challenge. We must show up, stand up and speak up. If we don’t, we’ll wake up in a world where oppression and persecution have washed over us while we slept.
I will fight. I will challenge. I have showed up, stood up and spoken up. I will take advantage of all the legal courses of action available to me and I encourage you to do the same. One last quote that springs to mind, and is applicable here: “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.”
By Vince Sullivan
Delaware Co. News Network Associated Editor
A man sat alone in a jail cell many years ago. It was the hope of his captors to break his spirit and end his crusade, the goal of which was equality for all. While he sat there, he penned a letter from that cell in Birmingham, Alabama. In it, he coined a phrase which frequently echoes in my mind in times of turmoil. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that in the upheaval that came with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, but I am inclined to apply the adage to a currently developing crisis in a small community nestled between two creeks in Delaware County.
At last week’s Colwyn Borough Council meeting, Council President Tonette Pray announced that no one would be allowed to take photographs at any meeting of the council without prior authorization. Her decision was explained by the borough’s solicitor, who said that cameras and picture-taking would distract council members from their business. I present the theory that council itself is a distraction from the proper governance of the town and its business.
After making the announcement, I challenged the solicitor to cite any case law, legal precedents or entries in any book of codes, ordinances or constitution that would justify such a prohibition. He could not. Upon returning home, I immediately looked up the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act, a law that prescribes the manner in which government meetings may be held, intending to create an open government for all citizens to monitor and take part. Section 711 of the Sunshine Act states, under a heading titled “Use of equipment during meetings,” that “a person attending a meeting of an agency shall have the right to use recording devices to record all the proceedings.” Seems pretty slam dunk, right?
I won’t speculate on any motives council had in making this rule, which wasn’t voted on by the council, just announced by its president, but the effect was certainly to limit public access to government. For a Democrat to take this action is appalling, not just because the party has been espousing a new age of transparency, but because this particular Democrat has been a vocal supporter of President Barack Obama. One of his first acts as president? To create government Web sites that provide for more openness and transparency in government.
As a journalist, I am keenly aware of the rights of citizens, including myself, when it comes to access to government proceedings and documents, not out of curiosity or happenstance, but by necessity. As the weeks go by, I am reminded more and more that elected officials all too often are seduced by the power given them by the people, and that power goes to their heads and makes them do things that, simply stated, are illegal. This is one of those cases. Whether this particular elected official thought her actions were justified and legal or she was given bad legal advice, or whether she said “to hell with legal, I do what I want,” I’ll never know.
What I do know is that this action violated the letter, spirit and intention of the Sunshine Act, a group of laws which benefits all Pennsylvanians, not just reporters. It is the right of every citizen to challenge their government when they feel their rights have been violated. More than that, though, it is the responsibility of every citizen to do so. If we do not fight for our rights then they will evaporate like morning dew on a blade of grass. The sun will rise in the sky, and we will all be left without the liberties that ensure our freedoms of religion, press, due process and speech.
There’s another famous quote that came to mind while all of this was happening last week. “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance.” A fellow most of us have never heard of, John Philpot Curran, said that in 1790 and it is as true now as it was 220 years ago. We must fight. We must challenge. We must show up, stand up and speak up. If we don’t, we’ll wake up in a world where oppression and persecution have washed over us while we slept.
I will fight. I will challenge. I have showed up, stood up and spoken up. I will take advantage of all the legal courses of action available to me and I encourage you to do the same. One last quote that springs to mind, and is applicable here: “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.”
