Both the state Freedom of Information Commission and the state’s leading right-to-know advocacy group warned Friday that a proposed 20 percent budget cut for the commission — and the possible transfer of its public information officer into Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s office — could greatly weaken state government transparency.
Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Secret trials for CT 20-somethings would be unconstitutional
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the General Assembly are to be commended for their 2015 “Second Chance Society” legislation, reversing racist laws that filled our jails with nonviolent drug users, most of them African-American and Latino. But it is ill-advised to pursue announced policies emanating from that corrective action; especially plans for secret trials of defendants in their early 20s.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
UConn’s closed budget discussion violated the Freedom Of Information Act
Did the University of Connecticut’s recent “behind closed doors” budget discussion violate the state’s Freedom Of Information Act? Answer: Yes. Here’s why…
Posted inPolitics
House OKs stronger FOI access to arrest records
The House of Representatives unanimously voted Friday for legislation that would declare arrest reports to be public documents under the Freedom of Information Act, reversing a major element of a Connecticut Supreme Court decision.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut should demand more disclosure by the police
Some key Connecticut legislators are telling us to compromise on how much the people can know about crime and punishment, how much we can know about how the police are protecting the public from alleged criminals. I am not sure how to compromise on the right of the people to know what their government is doing in their name.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Too few CT lawmakers have signed FOI pledge
Interested in preserving the public’s access to government information seems to have waned significantly among Connecticut lawmakers since former Gov. Ella Grasso first signed ground-breaking FOI legislation into law. More incumbent legislators should be signing the pledge to protect the public’s right to know.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Too few CT lawmakers have signed FOI pledge
Interested in preserving the public’s access to government information seems to have waned significantly among Connecticut lawmakers since former Gov. Ella Grasso first signed ground-breaking FOI legislation into law. More incumbent legislators should be signing the pledge to protect the public’s right to know.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-ed: Beware! (of Gov. Malloy’s new Victims’ Rights panel)
Freedom of information laws in Connecticut and elsewhere are continually being watered down so that it is harder and harder for citizens to know what the government is doing.