Everybody can take advantage of Wisconsin's public records law. Ask us how on Reddit
Sunshine Week is a nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, education, government and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government.
Public records are one of the most powerful tools available to reporters — and the public.
Now, we're lifting the curtain on how any member of the public can use Wisconsin open records law to shed light on how local and state government is working.
On Monday at 12 p.m., Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigative reporter Mary Spicuzza and Wisconsin public records legal expert Tom Kamenick are teaming up to answer questions in a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" Q&A on r/wisconsin.
Spicuzza is an investigative and political reporter who has filed hundreds of open records requests while covering state and local government. She led the team that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for coverage of then-Gov. Scott Walker's move to sharply limit union powers.
In 2022, Spicuzza and investigative reporter Cary Spivak used public records to expose fraud in a state program intended to prevent infant and maternal mortality. They filed records requests for audits, applications and Medicaid spending totals and found a surge in signs of fraud among prenatal care coordination companies.
Kamenick is the president and founder of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, a law firm dedicated exclusively to enforcing the state's open records and open meetings law. He has litigated 45 access cases with a more than 90% win rate since starting the project in 2019.
In one of Kamenick's recent cases, a Rock County circuit judge ruled that the School District of Beloit violated the law when it denied a request from a local resident for the email addresses on a district distribution list. The district had used the list to send newsletters promoting its $33 million referendum.
Kamenick has worked with the Journal Sentinel on some cases.
Wondering how to file a records request? Want to know what kind of unusual documents you can obtain? Curious about the current state of government transparency in Wisconsin? Join Spicuzza and Kamenick on Monday at reddit.com/r/wisconsin/.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Reporter Mary Spicuzza and legal expert Tom Kamenick host Reddit AMA
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