Sunshine law must benefit public
The Telegraph, Macon, Ga
Posted 2/13/07

At first blush, the reaction to a measure by House Republicans that would require a written notice from persons seeking public records might be, what's the problem? Newspapers, for example, routinely make such requests for records under the open records law in writing. And State Rep. Mark Hatfield of Waycross, who submitted the open records measure, says he did so to protect government officials who could face charges and fines for violation of the state's sunshine law.

That explanation, however, would carry more weight if there had been more than the "three or four" criminal convictions of open records violations in the 30 years the law has been on the books, according to Hollie Manheimer of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. That organization opposes the measure, saying its adoption would make it more difficult for the average citizen to receive documents that are the public's, not the custodian holding the information.

And Ms. Manheimer is correct. While there would be some benefits to a governmental agency if records requests were required to be in writing - it would be easier, for example, to keep up with when records were requested and by whom - it would also impose an unnecessary hardship on citizens, making it more difficult for a person seeking documents to get them. "Access to public documents - a cornerstone of our democratic society - should be simple and
free of impediments," she said.

According to the Associated Press, lawmakers have approved a change in Georgia law that they say will make it harder for the government to withhold public documents. As the AP noted, the legislation would make it more difficult to refuse to release documents by citing "that they are agents of the federal government."

That's fine. The objective of any open-records measure should have one goal and one goal only: To ensure that citizens encounter the least hindrance possible when seeking records pertaining to public action that fall under the open records law. Those records, after all, are property of the public, something government agencies sometimes forget.