Tom Hennick knows the 海角换妻 Freedom of Information (FOI) law inside and out: He has been a journalist, FOI public education officer, local public official, and now a 海角换妻 FOI commissioner.
鈥淲e only operate effectively if we are informed,鈥� Hennick says.
Hennick is among many open government advocates in 海角换妻 celebrating 50 years of access to public records and meetings. Established in 1975 by Gov. Ella Grasso, the FOI Commission continues to make decisions that benefit the public鈥檚 right to access.
Colleen Murphy, 海角换妻鈥檚 FOI Commission executive director, said it is important for citizens to be aware of their rights to public records and meetings, because it gives them the ability to hold the government accountable.
鈥淚t is so important for citizens to know, to be informed about their government in order to make good decisions about where they want their government to go,鈥� says Murphy. 鈥淎nd if you don鈥檛 have state and federal laws to ensure that, there鈥檚 a risk that citizens will not have those tools and will be left in the dark.鈥�
The 海角换妻 FOI law covers municipal and state agencies, meaning it allows access to public records and meetings, and lets the public know about what鈥檚 going on in their towns or communities. 海角换妻 has also been nationally recognized for open government laws due to the FOI Commission, an independent body that reviews complaints.
The history of FOI
The campaign for an FOI law in 海角换妻 started in 1955, after a reporter at the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper realized that citizens were not allowed to attend a meeting of the Torrington Board of Education.
Editors in the state then created the 海角换妻 Council of Freedom of Information (CCFOI). Retired editor and former president of CCFOI, Jim H. Smith, mentioned that 鈥渢wo important journalists鈥� 鈥� Carter White of the Meriden Record Journal and Bill Foote of the Hartford Courant 鈥� helped to build the CCFOI.
鈥淲e fought for freedom of expression and to get government information,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淎nd it took 20 years for the government to catch up with us.鈥�
Mitchell Pearlman, retired executive director of the 海角换妻 FOI Commission, said during the campaign, the 海角换妻 Daily Newspaper Association joined in to continue the fight for 鈥渙pen meetings, open government, open records鈥� in 海角换妻.
By the 1970s, there was more support within the public and government, especially following the Watergate scandal, after which former President Richard Nixon resigned.
This support allowed the FOI act to pass after it was denied many times by the state legislature鈥檚 Judiciary Committee.
In 1974, Grasso ran for and became governor, and she pushed for a state Freedom of Information Act, allowing the state government to set up an FOI Commission in June 1975. A month later, the first three members of the commission 鈥� Herbert Brucker, Helen Loy and Judith Lahey 鈥� were named by Grasso, and they agreed to take on their first case in October 1975.
Jeff Daniels, who served Grasso as a special assistant for policy and programs, says the commission is a 鈥渟tatutorily created administrative agency,鈥� or 鈥渁n official body,鈥� created with commissioners 鈥� both volunteers and staff 鈥� who work to hear and resolve cases that differentiate opinions.
Today, the state FOI Commission is supported by outside groups that also fight to protect government transparency. CCFOI, which is entering its 70th year, continues to lobby the legislature on 鈥渁llied issues that relate to open government. It鈥檚 people with an interest in FOIA who will try to protect it,鈥� Daniels says.
Using the law
Members of the public and journalists now have access to records provided by the FOI law. For journalists, that can mean revealing necessary information to the public when covering stories or events related to the public鈥檚 concern. Citizens can also access these records or meetings, in order to stay aware of details in ongoing cases.
海角换妻 Foundation of Open Government 鈥� CFOG 鈥� is a non-profit group that tries to educate the public about open government issues through panel discussions and events.
Janet Manko, past president of CFOG, publisher emerita and former editor-in-chief of the Lakeville Journal, explains that the public have a chance to get a direct understanding of their rights, on the basics of 鈥渨hat they can know and what people may not want them to know.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e spoken to some people who have been involved with police incidents who didn鈥檛 realize that they could access a police report about that incident,鈥� says Manko. 鈥淎nd that it鈥檚 important that we as members of the public know that.鈥�
Smith also says the right to request or access police reports and is often 鈥渢he hardest nut to crack.鈥�
Citizens can also access or request meeting minutes from a public meeting that has been previously held. An example would be a school district鈥檚 academic budget changes or change in a school鈥檚 spending on salaries.
Chris Powell, a retired 海角换妻 editor, says shortly after the law passed, the Somers, 海角换妻 school system did not want to disclose the salaries of its teachers. He filed a complaint with the FOI Commission, which ruled with a 2-1 vote that the disclosure of teachers鈥� salaries was indeed public information under the 海角换妻 state of Information law.
鈥淚 was a little distressed that there was even one Commissioner who thought the teacher salary should be exempt from disclosure,鈥� says Powell.
Exemptions to the FOI law
There are many exemptions in the FOI law that the commission can take into account. Some of these exemptions can be: records of law enforcement agencies that are still in pre-trial or trial phase, some personal information, adoption records, records of complaints and negotiating sessions.
According to Daniels, the original legislation had four exemptions for the release of public information. Now there are 28.
鈥淕enerally, that鈥檚 not good, because it means the breadth of things that are excluded from public information has been growing,鈥� he said.
Hennick, who in addition to his FOI roles has also served on town boards, said the decision for exempting a specific document can vary based on the situation at hand or the timing.
鈥淪o, I see where my FOI background is saying 鈥榩ublic, public, public,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淎nd there鈥檚 some things that say 鈥榳ell, not yet.鈥欌��
Matthew Kauffman, a retired Hartford Courant reporter, said two common records types that agencies try to withhold are personnel and police records. He gave an example of a police officer鈥檚 personnel file being withheld from a request in Bristol.
FOI Commissioner Matthew Streeter said it can be hard for the law to keep up with changes in society.
鈥淭echnology is advancing fast. We now have public records like police body cam footage, school cameras.. and public officials鈥� text messages,鈥� he said. 鈥淧ublic document retention, especially in digital form, is increasingly complex.鈥�
To Powell, this all points to the need for better 鈥� and more timely 鈥� enforcement.
"I would install some serious fines in the law for government agencies that violate the law,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause most government agencies in 海角换妻 are not very friendly to disclosure and they know from experience that they can stall disclosure for years and years and years if they want to.鈥�
Importance of FOI
Due to the organizations working together, 海角换妻鈥檚 FOI law allows access to many records and meetings. If the FOI law was not enacted, members of the public would not have access to information about their government.
Most importantly, the FOI law helps the public understand the workings behind government, and how well agencies and officials handle civil disputes, protect communities and provide fair education.
Journalists鈥� job is to help members of the public know about their access to that information, and to keep using the law to report on government actions.
鈥淲hat journalists do is serve society,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淎nd we can鈥檛 serve society if the government is hiding information from us. And so, we fight to get it.鈥�
Brandon Cort茅s, Miah Green and Ben Martin are journalism students at Southern 海角换妻 State University. This story is republished via , a service of the 海角换妻 Student Journalism Collaborative, an organization sponsored by journalism departments at college and university campuses across the state.