The roadmap to robust democracy starts with access to information, even when public officials don’t want you to have it. Your right to know is enshrined in The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Both federal and state versions are a major tool for reporters, businesses, law firms and ordinary citizens seeking to understand how decisions …
Continue reading Sunshine Week: Public Records Laws the Key to Accountability
The Freedom of Information Act has never been celebrated by those in power. After Congress passed it in 1966, LBJ signed it quietly at his Texas ranch. Even under President Obama, the federal government was loath to facilitate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. They spent millions defending their reluctance in court. But Donald Trump …
Continue reading Sunshine Week: government transparency needed now more than ever
Running around the house yesterday, looking frantically for the directions to set my clock radio forward to Daylight Saving Time, I thought about how stupid it is to have to go through this twice a year. Why not just go on daylight saving time year-round and call it, er, a day. Florida Senator Marco Rubio …
Continue reading Daylight Saving Time leads off Sunshine Week
For the past seven years, there's been a second man in my life. His name? Elias P. Demetracopoulos, hereinafter referred to as Elias. I never met the man, but he figured importantly in our household. My husband, Jim Barron, is writing a biography about the life and times of Elias, an independent journalist, a fighter for freedom …
Close your eyes for a moment and hear the refrain of Aquarius by The Fifth Dimension, "let the sun shine, let the sun shine, the sun shine in." Consider it the anthem for this week: Sunshine Week. It has nothing to do with the fact that we're back on daylight savings time, this Friday is the first …
Barack Obama, both candidate and President, promised the American people the most transparent administration in our history. But the reality is far less than that. The Obama Justice Department is challenging a district court ruling that the Secret Service logs kept of visitors to the White House should be open records. According to Politico, the …
Marjorie Arons-Barron 