Celebrating the public’s right to know

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March 13, 2010

Anonymous Pharos-Tribune Sat Mar 13, 2010, 10:30 PM EST

Welcome to Sunshine Week, a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.

The observance began as National Freedom of Information Day, originally held on March 16, the birth date of James Madison, the man generally regarded as the father of the U.S. Constitution and author of the First Amendment.

In simple terms, freedom of information is the right to know what your government is doing — how it spends your tax dollars, how it creates and implements policy, how it makes decisions that affect you.

Let’s say, for example, that you want a copy of the Logansport city budget. You have the right to walk into the City Building and ask for it. And the city has to give it to you, or it has to explain why it can’t.

If you request a public record in person, the governmental entity has 24 hours to respond to your request. If you make the request by mail, it has seven days.

In considering your request, the government office can’t ask why you want the information. It can’t even ask who you are.

If all you want to do is examine the document, you have the right to do that right there in the office. If you want a copy, the office does have the option of charging you a reasonable fee.

Still, getting access to public information isn’t always easy. The battles sometimes rage on for years.

The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety in 2008 and 2009 finally gave the Tulsa World information it had sought in 2001 related to the department’s treatment of minorities during traffic stops. Last month, the long battle came to an end when the department agreed to shell out $60,000 to cover about two-thirds of the newspaper’s legal fees.

And the fight never really ends.

Just weeks after an overhaul of Illinois freedom of information laws took effect, state lawmakers last month were already considering more than a half dozen proposals aimed at making public records harder to get.

But the fight isn’t about liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats. Freedom of information advocates come from the right and the left and everywhere in between.

And they keep fighting the good fight year in and year out because they truly believe in a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

We salute their efforts.

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Editorials

Putting our best foot forward
Projects to enhance Logansport’s curb appeal for visitors are coming together. The community owes a debt of gratitude to the hard-working volunteers who made these projects happen.

May 28, 2012
More than just an extra day off
Monday is Memorial Day, a time when the nation pauses to remember those who have given their lives in defense of the freedoms we all enjoy. It’s great to have a long weekend, but let’s not forget the holiday’s original meaning.

May 26, 2012
Have fun, safe start to summer
Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of the summer season. Have fun this weekend, but be sure to keep it safe.

May 24, 2012
Meeting students where they are
A mall-based alternative school in Indianapolis is working to reach students who weren’t able to succeed in a traditional classroom. The approach is similar to the one now being taken by Logansport schools.

May 23, 2012
Postal service listens to small towns
The U.S. Postal Service plans to keep smaller post offices open by scaling back the hours at those and other offices. The postal service deserves credit for listening to the concerns of its customers.

May 22, 2012
A history lesson on two wheels
The Cass County Historical Society staged its second annual bike tour last weekend. The event raises money for a great cause while offering participants to get some exercise and learn a bit of local history.

May 17, 2012
Stormwater fees about to go up
The Logansport Stormwater Management Board is considering a 51-percent increase in its monthly rate. The board is about to launch into a huge project, and residents would do well to tune into the process.

May 15, 2012
A day to say thanks to moms
Today is Mother’s Day, an observance that dates back more than a century. Mothers everywhere deserve our gratitude for the love they showed and the lessons they taught.

May 12, 2012
Six-to-Six program offers promise
A new program called Six-to-Six aims to work with middle school students facing suspension from school. Catching issues when kids are still in middle school should cut down on the number of teenagers who go on to drop out of school or wind up in jail.

May 10, 2012
Council can’t have it both ways
The Logansport City Council is considering an ordinance eliminating the requirement that police officers and firefighters provide receipts in order to collect their annual uniform allowance. If the council wants to ensure the money is well spent, it should reject this ordinance.

May 9, 2012
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Celebrating the public’s right to know

The U.S. Postal Service is scaling back hours at about 13,000 post offices across the country so that it can keep open about 3,700 post offices it had targeted for closing. Do you support this plan?

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