Access to public records vital to U.S. democracy
Access to public records vital to U.S. democracy
Editorial
by Editorial Board |
This weekend, Tim Gleason, dean of the University's School of Journalism and Communication, wrote a piece for the Oregonian in which he highlighted some of the Oregon legislature's latest proposals to add more exceptions to the Oregon public records law. He argued, persuasively in our view, that the increased exceptions must be looked upon with some concern.
Public records laws are one of the single most important safeguards against tyranny in a free democracy. Strong public records laws are the people's first line of defense against illegal actions by their government; they provide, among other things, that most all meetings of policy makers that result in new laws or government actions are open to public scrutiny and input. They also require government agencies to release documents, reports and financial details applicable to nearly everything they are doing. Without the provision of transparency afforded under the public records law, politicians might be easily able to hide from the public many of their less popular or even illegal actions.
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