Did you set your clocks forward? Did you know that its Sunshine Week (March 13-19)? Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote the public’s right to know what its government is doing, and why.
Sunshine Week was started by traditional news editors in Florida in 2002 with a series of Sunshine Sundays created public pressure to defeat some 300 exemptions to open government laws in the Sunshine State’s legislative sessions. All Illinoisans should be grateful for Sunshine laws even if the enactment has led to the embarrassment of several powerful government officials’ indictments and/or convictions.
Some complain about the excesses of the media, especially the new media (often referred to as blogs), and the participatory journalism that has evolved. Comments to news stories and opinion pieces often reveal how far we have to go to have an informed citizenry. But mingled with more than occasional mindless insults and innuendo are nuggets of information, often scooping the media the comments are found in, and shining light on important matters close to home. These gems of information only add to the effectiveness of the important work that news reporters do every day.
Sunshine Week acknowledges the importance and the necessity of a well-informed citizenry. In the few weeks left before the all important local elections Sunshine is vital. Let it fill every crack of back room government.
As a tribute to Sunshine Week here’s an excerpt from Lisa Madigan’s Guide to the Illinois Open Meetings Act:
A public body cannot sanction one of its members for disclosing information or issues discussed in a closed meeting. 1991 Ill. Att’y Gen. Op. 1. The Attorney General noted that the possibility of such sanctions “would only serve as an obstacle to the effective enforcement of the Act, and a shield behind which opponents of open government could hide.”
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