Open records and meetings laws are a fundamental part of our democracy. They ensure a level of government transparency, and allow citizens to hold public officials accountable for their actions.
In recent years we’ve seen some attacks on these laws in the state of Wisconsin, which have shocked the public conscience.
But perhaps none were more shocked than the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, an organization dedicated to preserving the state’s open records and open meetings laws. The group's co-vice president Christa Westerberg says that despite recent attempts to alter them, Wisconsin's open records and open meetings laws are pretty good when compared to other states.
"Overall, I think Wisconsin is looked at pretty favorably. But it takes work, let me tell you, it takes work," says Westerberg. "You cannot have these laws on the book and just assume that everything's going to be fine."
The Freedom of Information Council writes a monthly column about the different things impacting open records laws, called “Your Right to Know.” August’s column was penned by Westerberg, who outlines several cases making their way to Wisconsin's Supreme Court that deal with open records.
One case involves Wisconsin's current Attorney General, Brad Schimel. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin asked for the release of videos used by law enforcement during Schmiel's tenure as Waukesha District Attorney. So far, the courts have sided the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and reject Schimel's claim that releasing them would aid criminals and hurt potential victims.
Another case headed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court deals with mistaken identity. A man's identity was used as an alias for a convicted criminal, whose crimes have become a part of the man's official record. He asked the courts to either deny access to these records, or include his letter of innocence with the rest of the records.
The Department of Justice has so far refused to release the letter with the criminal records, and courts have ruled against the DOJ. The Freedom of Information Council hopes to see the letter released with the other criminal records. "If you're being effected by transparency, in this case, we think more transparency is the answer," says Westerberg.
