Although Oklahoma as a Senate was
recently honored by
FOI Oklahoma with a Sunshine Award, the state Supreme Court's
recent decision to limit access to records online has earned it the dubious "Black Hole" award from the group.
The Oklahoman
explains:
The justices received the award for roadblocking freedom of information by establishing new rules addressing content on the Internet. When the rules go into effect June 10, online access to court documents in the Supreme Court and district courts will be limited to court dockets only.
Besides eliminating Internet access, the order puts new restrictions on what information the public can access from legal documents filed with court clerks.
Of course making open records a matter of law, and actually opening those records are two different matters altogether, as Joey Senat recently told
The Oklahoman:
Joey Senat, an OSU journalism professor and past president of Freedom of Information Oklahoma Inc., said leaving prosecution to district attorneys isn't working.
"I think very often it's that district attorneys don't want to embarrass their fellow elected officials,” Senat said. "It may also have to do with the power and the money that the people on those boards might have.”
Senat said district attorneys are put in a bind when local police are accused of violating the law, because they depend on a working relationship with law enforcement.
Labels: FOIA
Posted at 3/24/2008 07:46:00 AM
