EXPERTOS LOCALES EN LEY DEL SOL DISCUTAN EL TEMA
Un panel de especialistas emitió una advertencia sobre una creciente guerra contra el acceso de los ciudadanos a los registros públicos y a las reuniones de los funcionarios públicos electos.
Their presentation, “Sunshine and the Storms,” was a reference to Missouri’s Sunshine Law, designed to allow easy public access to records when requested by citizens and the press and to govern when meetings are required to be open and closed to the public.
The event was created to share information about the panelists’ many court battles for their clients’ access to public records even as some elected officials create a wall to such records. The records sought range from documents leading to the votes of elected officials on a variety of issues to more mundane records, including drivers’ licenses.
La discusión fue patrocinada por la Liga de Mujeres Votantes de los condados de Kansas City/Jackson-Clay-Platte y se llevó a cabo en las oficinas del centro de Kansas City de Shook, Hardy & Bacon Law, una firma de abogados de Kansas City.
Dan Margolies de KCUR-FM, periodista emérito, que brindó antecedentes sobre la libertad de información, dijo que Missouri fue pionero en proteger el acceso público a la información al crear la Ley Sunshine durante la década de 1970, antes de que muchos estados hubieran promulgado tales leyes. También explicó a la audiencia de unos 50 asistentes, incluidos algunos que vieron el evento en línea, que el equivalente federal de la ley es la Ley de Libertad de Información (FOIA).
El resto de la presentación se centró en una tendencia creciente de los funcionarios gubernamentales a limitar el acceso a la información pública.
"No puedo dejar de enfatizar cuán críticas son estas leyes que los funcionarios del gobierno tal vez no quieran compartir", dijo Bernie Rhodes, abogado de la Primera Enmienda de Lathrop GPM.
Rhodes explicó además que las “tormentas” que actualmente amenazan con cortar el acceso público a los registros están siendo creadas por un número creciente de funcionarios que ven el material de antecedentes, las discusiones que conducen a las votaciones y, a veces, a las votaciones reales, como asuntos privados.
He gave examples of elected officials who attempt to charge thousands, or in some cases millions of dollars, for public records requested by citizens and the press. Missouri’s Sunshine Law states that governments may only charge nominal fees for copying material, but many citizens are unaware of the law designed to protect them from exorbitant fees and, as a result, halt their requests after being told of the charges.
Others turn to local law experts, such as Rhodes and panelist Jean Meneke, who also is a First Amendment attorney. Rhodes said he’s noted “a different mindset in officials who think the records are theirs and not the public’s.”
Dijo que algunos funcionarios públicos están tan decididos a luchar contra el acceso que han documentado en correos electrónicos su intención de presionar a los miembros legislativos de Missouri para que "cambien la ley" a fin de proteger la información que consideran "privada" de la vista del público.
Examples of breeches are numerous, Rhodes said, who recounted the case of Josh Hawley, then Missouri’s Attorney General, who directed his staff to use private emails to conduct public business. A Missouri judge ruled Hawley “knowingly and purposefully” used private accounts in violation of Sunshine Law and Hawley paid $12,000 in penalties plus attorney’s fees.
In addition, Hawley’s office used private emails to communicate with political consultants in his race for U.S. Senate. Ironically, the Missouri Attorney General is charged with protecting access to the state’s public records and has a backlog of several hundred requests for assistance in obtaining records from public officials where access was denied.
Meneke, un abogado que trabaja en nombre de la Asociación de Prensa de Missouri, dijo que el actual Fiscal General de Missouri, Andrew Bailey, “heredó” una acumulación de cientos de quejas pendientes de sus predecesores, Eric Schmitt, y Hawley.
Jason Lewis, general counsel for the Missouri Attorney General’s office, also a panelist, said the backlog is indicative of the increasing evidence of officials’ attempts to shield access to public information.
Another example is that of a Parkville area resident who acted as his own attorney in a lawsuit he brought against City of Parkville for withholding and overcharging for public information. Jason Maki won the largest settlement in the state’s Sunshine history in 2021 when he was awarded $195,000.
Maki filed the suit accusing the City of Parkville of violations of the Sunshine Law. Maki’s decision to represent himself, despite not being an attorney, makes his case unusual, Meneke said.
En 2022, Maki ganó a nivel estatal un premio de Sunshine Coalition, que reconoció a tres personas y una organización por sus esfuerzos para adoptar la ley.
Other local cases include the police raid in 2023 on a newspaper in Marion, Kan., which received national media coverage of the officers’ bodycam footage. In the raid, conducted by the local police department, officers seized computers, cell phones and other materials from The Marion County Record, one of its journalists and also raided the home of the newspaper’s publisher.
The reporter had searched an online Department of Revenue site for information about a local woman who applied for a liquor license in order to open a business. The reporter received a tip that the applicant lacked a valid drivers’ license due to a DWI conviction. The newspaper did not run the story for fear the tipster had ulterior motives because he was seeking a divorce from the liquor license applicant. The raid also was motivated by the journalist’s search into the background of the small town’s police chief, who previously was employed by the Kansas City Police Department but was let go amid controversy. He later became the chief in Marion.
Rhodes, who became the newspaper’s attorney, stated the journalist was being punished for doing her job. The judge who signed off on the raid eventually ordered that confiscated material be returned to the newspaper and reporter and the reporter sued the Marion police department. Many, including the local panel of press attorneys, criticized the raid, stating it violated the newspaper’s rights.
“That’s a real-world example,” Rhodes said, adding that the newspaper’s circulation soared as a result of media coverage and subscriptions came in from throughout the world in a show of support for the paper’s efforts.
Cuando se le preguntó cómo se puede mejorar el acceso a los registros públicos, Lewis dijo que la educación del público, a través de foros como este, es clave. Los ciudadanos necesitan conocer sus derechos bajo la Ley Sunshine y cómo acceder a la información a pesar de los esfuerzos de algunos funcionarios públicos por limitar el acceso. Además, el público puede comunicarse con los legisladores estatales para mostrar su apoyo a la Ley Sunshine.