Laws on open government often fall short

[cal04]

Though laws in every state say government records and meetings must be open to all, reality often falls far short: Laws are sporadically enforced, penalties for failure to comply are mild and violators almost always walk away with nothing more than a reprimand, an Associated Press survey of all 50 states has found.

Even in the handful of states that monitor such cases, when citizens appeal over lack of access to information, the government usually wins — and keeps public business secret.

Why does it matter?

Advocates for open government say public trust is at the heart of our democracy, that scrutiny keeps public officials honest, and that information is the foundation of informed debate.

"We're in an era, clearly, where there's a lot of distrust in government," said Bill Chamberlin of the Marion Brechner Citizen Access Project at the University of Florida. "The more the public officials are open in their conversation and show the documentation that they're basing decisions on, it's going to help the public have faith in what officials are doing."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070311/ap_on_re_us/sunshine_week

[bemildred]

1. Can't have foxes policing the chicken house.

Without independent oversight you have squat, a nice sounding law and business as usual when it matters.