|
|
0 3 . 1 7 . 2 6
All Access
3 items
Celebrating Sunshine Week, March 15-21
|
|
|
|
Local
Hours ahead of a student-led anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement walkout at Smithfield High School, multiple School Board members pushed Isle of Wight County Schools Superintendent Theo Cramer to prevent the protest from happening. Emails and text messages that The Smithfield Times obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show a rift between certain School Board members and Cramer over his handling of the walkout during the two weeks prior to the superintendent’s March 11 announcement that he would not seek to renew his contract with the division when it expires June 30. Cramer’s letter to students, staff and parents did not give a specific reason for wanting to end his time at IWCS, stating only that “after thoughtful reflection, it has become clear that the best path forward is for me to conclude my service at the end of this school year.” Cramer declined to comment further on his reasons.
|
|
|
|
Federal
“Hello, the FOIA office has been placed on admin leave and is unable to respond to any emails.” This was how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention responded by email this past spring to a Freedom of Information Act request for records about the risk of catching measles in areas with low vaccination rates. … As hundreds of thousands of federal employees were fired or chose to leave the government last year, FOIA requesters — myself included — wondered: Would these personnel reductions further undermine the federal government’s already strained ability to follow federal law and disclose public records when requested under FOIA? The answer, we now know, is a resounding yes. Attorneys for at least 13 agencies and departments have explicitly stated in 26 FOIA lawsuits that the downsizings were the reasons for failures to meet FOIA deadlines, according to a Washington Post review of 339 active FOIA lawsuits. The true number of requests mired in federal staffing cuts, however, is almost certainly higher: The Post’s count does not include the hundreds of cases in which officials gave no specific reason in court for the delays.
|
|
|
|
|
|
While many lust for political power, life can be more fun in the minority, where you can say and do almost anything — without fear it will happen. Things can get a little dicey when the tables turn. This observation seems especially apt during Sunshine Week, an annual exercise in futility when people who care about good government encourage those in government to make it easier for you and me to figure out just what in the hell they’re up to. … The list of hypocrites on this subject is longer than the list of lawmakers who have become lobbyists. This dishonor roll includes personages as august as Gretchen Whitmer, who, as a candidate for governor in 2018, said she wanted to expand Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act to include the Legislature and governor’s office, but now has only until about August to live up to her promise before she leaves office after eight years.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/ml-elrick/2026/03/15/sunshine-week-michigan-lawmakers/89105750007/
Our annual conference, April 23rd, in Norfolk.
Click the image for details and registration.
“Democracies die behind closed doors.” ~ U.S. District Judge Damon Keith, 2002
Follow us on: X / Facebook / Instagram / Threads / Bluesky
|
|
|
|
