Rays of sunshine as democracy is enveloped in darkness
Open records and access to government is important for government transparency and trust. (Photo from www.sunshineweek.org)
A legacy of Wisconsin's progressive tradition is its strong open records law, which compels the government to conduct its business in full view of the public and respond promptly to citizen demands for records from state agencies, public schools, city halls and police departments.
Just before Sunshine Week, this week's annual mid-March public education campaign celebrating the importance of open records and freedom of information, the Wisconsin Examiner proudly accepted the 2025 Media Openness Award from the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council for our reporters' work forcing police department records into the open.
Attorney Tom Kamenick, who runs the Wisconsin Transparency Project, the state's only open records focused law firm, won settlements in two cases, against the city of Black River Falls and the Wauwatosa Police Department, and both government entities changed their policies so that future public records requests will be met expeditiously and without burdensome fees.
The city of Black River Falls attempted to charge more than $4,000 to fulfill reporter Henry Redman's request for records regarding the disappearance and death of a Native American man whose family doubted police accounts of his apparent suicide. The family members were told by city staff that city officials advised them to ignore the family's pleas for more information about their loved one's death.
'So when we brought the lawsuit, yes, it was about making the request a little cheaper than $4,400,' Redman said in accepting the award at the March 6 Wisconsin Newspaper Association dinner. 'But it was also about changing the system in a small corner of the state, so people in Black River Falls, reporters and citizens alike, can turn a critical eye on their local government officials and help families like my sources get answers.'
Sharing the award was Isiah Holmes who, in a separate lawsuit, sued the Wauwatosa Police Department for failing to respond in a timely manner to his records requests filed in 2020 and 2021, 'that the Tosa PD had essentially just decided to just not respond to — to ignore,' Holmes said.
As part of the settlement, the department released hundreds of emails as well as interrogation video.
'It's not just about our requests,' said Holmes. 'It's about anyone who has to go to the Tosa PD, for example, people who may not have the knowledge or resources that we have as journalists. And actually, it's kind of an act of bravery, depending upon what agency you're dealing with, to go up and even ask for records.' Hopefully, he added, 'we helped make that process a little bit easier for people.'
Sunshine Week had its beginnings shortly after 9/11 when, in the name of national security, the government began to make all kinds of previously available information secret.
Tim Franklin, the editor of the Orlando Sentinel, noticed that data and information that was once readily available was disappearing from government websites. 'Suddenly, we're seeing government secrecy at an all-time high,' Franklin is quoted as saying on the official Sunshine Week website. 'It was becoming an issue that was unchecked because anytime it was questioned, the response was 'it's a matter of national security.''
Even the Florida state Legislature started passing government secrecy bills at an alarming clip.
Standing up to that pressure, as a group of journalists and First Amendment advocates in Florida did, is critical to the health of our democracy. But that's not always clear to the public.
In moments of moral panic, whether over an imaginary communist menace during the McCarthy era or a fictitious 'invasion' of violent criminals from other countries in our current moment, people forget that defending free speech, dissent, and public scrutiny of government are essential to our liberty and democracy.
As we enter a dark period in American history, with a president who took office and immediately began flouting the law, ransacking federal agencies, letting an unelected billionaire seize citizens' private data, deporting people without due process, and promising to use the full force of the federal government to persecute his enemies, we need sunshine on the activities of our elected officials more than ever.
Thank God for journalists and citizens who are willing to commit those little acts of bravery Holmes describes. Those watchdogs will help see us through to a brighter day.
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