Abstract
State and local open records laws play a vital role in our democracy. They shed light on the darkest places, exposing corruption and holding the powerful accountable. Yet lawmakers are continually chipping away at the public’s right to know by limiting the information available under open records laws. Exemptions have been passed to bolster special interests, in response to investigative journalism, and to shield lawmakers. This Note examines the proliferation of exemptions and proposes a three-pronged solution that combines statutory improvements from federal FOIA and Florida’s open records law with a call for greater public engagement on the importance of access to information.
Citation
Cat Reid,
Shading Sunshine: The Proliferation of Exemptions to State Open Records Laws,
73 Duke Law Journal
425-462
(2023)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dlj/vol73/iss2/4