Hey, everybody! It's Sunshine Week!

[Canuckistanian]

I'll bet it slipped your mind.

And what is "Sunshine Week"? Glad you asked.

Here it is, straight from the Sunshine Week website.

Sunshine Week is a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include print, broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, non-profits, schools and others interested in the public's right to know.

Sunshine Week is led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and is funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation of Miami.

Though spearheaded by journalists, Sunshine Week is about the public's right to know what its government is doing, and why. Sunshine Week seeks to enlighten and empower people to play an active role in their government at all levels, and to give them access to information that makes their lives better and their communities stronger.

And here are some topics from todays edition:

Nationwide Information Audit of
Public Hazmat Documents Meets with Suspicion,
Confusion and, Sometimes, Compliance
http://www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/audit07

Agencies Violate Online Information Law
Only One in Five Federal Agencies Meets Congress's Requirements
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB216/index.htm

Federal Government Seen As Increasingly Secretive;
National Poll for Sunshine Week Finds Privacy Concerns
http://www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/scrippspoll07

[lonestarnot]

1. We definitely need to shine something on them.

An impeachment light would suit me just fine. Endless solar energy.

[babylonsister]

2. Funny, I was just reading about that:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6471463,00.html

AP: 'Sunshine' Laws Often Go Unenforced


Saturday March 10, 2007 7:31 PM

AP Photo NYKR101, NYKR103, NYKR102

By ROBERT TANNER

AP National Writer

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.''

The AP's survey - conducted to coincide with Sunshine Week, a nationwide effort to draw attention to the public's right to know - gathered material from each state on its open government laws and penalties. Additionally, for the years 2004 to 2006, it sought more detail on open government complaints in states with the best record-keeping. The AP found that fewer than 10 states effectively track what happens in such cases.

more...

[Canuckistanian]

4. The article is getting widespread coverage

Just Google "AP 'Sunshine Laws'". I was astounded at the number of links.

[proud patriot]

3. Let the sun shine in ,,, Let the sun shine in

let the suuuuuuuun shine in