Transparency is critical for our democracy, and no part of the government should be exempt from sunlight. If our state is going to create a smarter justice system, all of us need numbers on what prosecutors are doing. Prosecutors, known as “state’s attorneys” in Connecticut, are government employees who hold people’s lives in their hands. But in Connecticut, there is very little public information available about prosecutors’ actions.

I’m going to lie to you. I’ll disrespect you, too. At least that will be your perception because we seem stuck in a society where if your and my version of the facts don’t match, we walk away mad, frustrated, and feeling disrespected. We need to listen to the opposite side and find the commonalities in each of our versions of reality.

It has been recognized for millennia, since Aesop: you know a man by the company he keeps. Does he hang out with, or hire liars? Does he feel very badly for a convicted felon, a philanderer, and tax cheat? Does he confess to falling in love with arguably the most despicable despot on the planet after their first date? What can be gleaned from the company our president keeps?

Decades ago, before the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl or Fukushima catastrophes, a major selling point for nuclear energy was proponents said it was “Too Cheap To Meter.” While relatively low priced for the power, the capital cost was high. When the cost of Millstone III got out of hand, the Connecticut legislature capped the cost after which ratepayers would not be responsible. It is also informative that the state provided tax-free bonding for $90 million for pollution control project which could be considered an early subsidy.