Opinion
NEWS ON OPEN GOVERNMENT ISSUES

Opinion: OOR can't order payment of legal fees

April 08, 2010 |
Q: I recently filed an appeal with the Office of Open Records. The agency has asked the Office of Open Records to order me or my newspaper to pay the agency’s legal fees related to the appeal. The agency argues that my request is “frivolous” because I requested the same record under the old law and was denied. Can the Office of Open Records order me to pay the agency’s legal fees resulting from the OOR appeal? Read More...

Opinion: Public matters can't hide behind law

April 03, 2010 |
Pennsylvania, with its woefully corrupt state Legislature and untold units of local government that also are no strangers to corruption, needs an effective Sunshine Law more so than most other states. Read More...

Opinion: Bill puts open meetings in peril

March 21, 2010 |
The devil is in the details and, if you're the pessimistic type, you can find Lucifer's fingerprints all over a small item in legislation passed by the state House five days ago. Read More...

Opinion: Open records still a work in progress

March 18, 2010 |
It’s a pretty good law. But having a good law and having a universally good “open government” attitude across the state are two different things. Pennsylvania’s new “Right to Know Law” took effect Jan. 1, 2009, more than a year ago. Has it been successful? It depends whom you ask and how you measure success when it comes to citizens being able to keep track of what their government is doing.
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Opinion: House passes damaging open meetings bill

March 18, 2010 |
The past few weeks have seen an increase in activity at the Capitol that causes concern. We were discouraged on March 10, when the full House, reviewing a bill intended to strengthen sanctions dished out (theoretically) for violating the Sunshine Act, voted to insert a ‘safety and security’ exemption for going into executive session, for school boards. Read More...

Opinion: Citizens have duty to monitor government

March 14, 2010 |
Today marks the beginning of Sunshine Week, a celebration of open government — and an exhortation to demand it ceaselessly. Open government is a core principle of our American form of democracy. Government employees — both elected officials and non-elected workers — are directly accountable to the people. In a citizens' government, citizens and the press are the watchdogs, making sure officials remain accountable to the people. Keeping access open to officials and to public documents is essential if citizens are to maintain their freedom.
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Opinion: Coroner rulings are a matter of public record

March 02, 2010 |
Just over a year old, Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law remains a work in progress. That fact is clearly evident through a court case brought by our colleagues at WGAL-TV. In what should be a clear-cut situation, the television station has been forced to go to the Commonwealth Court in an effort to determine not if a record is public - on that point everyone agrees - but when it should be released.
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Opinion: Clean Streams Act makes DEP records public

February 25, 2010 |
Q: I want to look at applications filed with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Can the DEP deny my request? Read More...

Opinion: Minutes public after next meeting; recordings public when created

February 18, 2010 |
Q: I requested copies of a local agency’s minutes and audio recording from a meeting held in early December, 2009. I was denied on the basis that meeting minutes aren’t public until they have been formally approved, and the audio recording is exempt as a “personal use” record. There have been three meetings since early December. Can the agency deny access to minutes and the audio recording at this point? Read More...

Opinion: No blanket exemption for email on personal account

January 28, 2010 |
Q: I requested access to e-mails sent between council members and the mayor of a local agency. The agency denied my request on the basis that the agency does not provide e-mail accounts to council or the mayor, and the e-mails are sent from personal e-mail addresses. Can they do that? Read More...

Opinion: Cell phones may be used to record meetings

January 14, 2010 |
Q: I recently attended a public meeting and was told that I could not use my cell phone to record the proceedings because cell phones are not approved by the board as an appropriate recording device and because I didn’t get permission to record in advance. Can the agency do that? Read More...