Weaking FOI laws by 1,000 cuts
In a news analysis, Christy Hoppe of the Dallas Morning News, shows how little-by-little Texas lawmakers weaken sunshine laws.
"This year we have at least 400 bills that would affect the public
information or open meetings act," Joel White, an attorney who defends open
records for media clients, said in the analysis. "There's more anti-openness legislation than ever
before."
It is a birthdate there, a file there, a record there and, in the end, those little bits of info that lead to big stories are gone. Hoppe gives good examples about how these small exemptions can hurt big investigations. Unfortunately, Texas is not alone in this kind of threat to access.
Read the analysis at Dallas.com