New Englanders Favor Open Government

A recent poll commissioned by The New England First Amendment Coalition (NEFAC) and conducted by the University of New Hampshire's Survey Center shows the vast majority of New Englanders believe having open access to the workings of government is important to citizen and favor strengthening laws to protect access, such as making government agencies pay any legal bills necessary to open public records.  

Among the findings:

• One in four respondents strongly believe that public business in their community is done out of public view.
• The majority in the six-state region believe the news media seeks out public information useful to citizens. But one in four people polled disagreed, 14 percent strongly.
• Most citizens have not asked for a public record in the last 12 months and, of those who did, 87 percent said they got what they asked for. 
• A plurality of respondents said they were familiar with the workings of their state's open records laws.
• On the whole, New Englanders are satisfied with the response of state and local government to citizen requests for access, but they remain skeptical of government motives.

Get the full report here and more from NFOIC here. 

R.I. considers withholding names of police shooters

The Rhode Island legislature proposed a bill that would protect the names of police officers involved in shootings until investigations are completed, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press reported. Opponents argue that keeping this information from the public would erode the community's trust in the police force. The Baltimore Police Department has already stopped releasing the names of police officers who injure or kill people.

The Rhode Island legislature is considering a bill that would block release of the names of police officers who are involved in shootings until after investigations are complete.

The bill to amend the state's public records law, H. 6165, was proposed in response to the fallout from a 2007 police shooting, according to the Providence Journal. Backers of the bill say it allows the officers time to deal with the situation and relieves them of public pressure. But detractors argue that police shootings ought to be treated no differently from other shootings, in which the police routinely release the names of the people responsible.

More here.

In Rhode Island, Secrecy Plagues Immigration Detentions

Since the middle of last month, at least 84 suspected illegal immigrants have been arrested throughout Rhode Island, including two highly publicized mass arrests — one at state courthouses last week.

The arrests raise many questions.

Has the federal bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement targeted Rhode Island for a crackdown on illegal immigration? Exactly how many people have been arrested so far this year? Where are they being detained? And, are these stepped-up raids driven by Governor Carcieri’s executive order on illegal immigration?

Unlike other law enforcement agencies that are compelled to release such information, ICE often operates in secret, say lawyers, advocates for freedom of the press and civil libertarians.

Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the Rhode Island raids represent “the same story” as ACLU has experienced in past dealings with ICE.

“Many detainees end up in an impenetrable rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland,” said Brown. “They are often impossible to find, ICE is often unable to tell family members where they are held — and then, when you finally find them, a chess game begins, where these detainees get transferred to distant places across the country.”

More here.

Department of Meaningless Vetoes...

Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri has vetoed 36 bills, including those dealing with releasing public records, distributing medical marijuana and expunging criminal records, his office said Thursday.

Carcieri sent the bills back to the General Assembly, where Democrats hold a veto-proof majority. Larry Berman, a spokesman for House Speaker William Murphy, said House and Senate leaders would meet in the next few weeks to decide what to do. They have until the beginning of the next session in January to try to override any vetoes.

Several of the three dozen bills Carcieri vetoed on Wednesday were duplicate versions from the House and Senate.

Among them was a bill to make the first major changes to the state's open records law. The proposed law would decrease the time that public agencies have to respond to requests for public records, from 10 days to seven. It also says police must release basic information about an arrest within 24 hours and orders that police release narratives of arrest reports within seven days.

Carcieri said some of that information could compromise public safety. He also said it wasn't practical to have to release information about arrests within 24 hours because, for example, an arrest could happen on the weekend when it could be difficult to accurately identify a person.

More here.

Rhode Island Reforms Pass

Per the AP, Rhode Island lawmakers have taken a major step toward strengthening the state's public records law:

Rhode Island lawmakers have endorsed the first major changes to the state's open records law, including hastening their release and specifying the information from arrest records police must make public.

Lawmakers approved the changes Saturday. They would take effect Sept. 1, if accepted by Gov. Don Carcieri.

The proposed law would decrease the time that public agencies have to respond to requests for public records, from 10 days to seven.

It would bar state agencies from requiring those seeking the information to provide personally identifiable details or stating the reason for their request.

The bill lists the basic information that police must release about arrests within 24 hours. It also orders that police release narratives of arrest reports within seven days.

Rhode Island FOI Reform?

Rhode Island's Senate has voted to strengthen the state's freedom to information law by requiring government agencies to respond to information requests faster.

The bill passed unanimously Thursday afternoon. It now heads to the House.

If adopted, Sen. Michael Lenihan's proposal would be the first major change to the state Access to Public Records Act in a decade. It would ban government agencies from forcing people who seek government documents to divulge their identities or reasons for seeking the information.

The bill would also require the government to respond to open records requests within seven days, instead of 10. Police departments would have to release basic information about arrests within 24 hours of receiving an inquiry.

Rhode Island Discusses Reforms

E-mails from residents to their legislators are meant to be passed along and open to the public.

Legislative grants should be banned.

Interpreters for the deaf and other amenities for those with disabilities should be available at all City Council and School Committee meetings.

And three days — instead of the present 10-day time frame — is a reasonable amount of time to provide public documents when requested.

Those were just some of the opinions shared by four legislators during last night’s “State of Government in Rhode Island” forum at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Knight Campus. The event was sponsored by the Rhode Island Press Association and ACCESS/RI, a public information coalition.

More here.

Rhode Island FOI Reforms Unveiled...

Proponents of public records access, including the media and the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, came out in support last night of a bill that would strengthen the state’s Open Records Law.

Those in favor of the amendments say they would help make Rhode Island government more transparent and protect the public’s right to know.

Critics meanwhile worry that the changes would drain staff resources and increase costs at a time when public agencies are already strained.

Proponents of public records access, including the media and the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, came out in support last night of a bill that would strengthen the state’s Open Records Law.

Those in favor of the amendments say they would help make Rhode Island government more transparent and protect the public’s right to know.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Edith H. Ajello, D-Providence, and presented yesterday to the House Judiciary Committee, calls for limiting the amount of time public bodies have to respond to open records requests from the current 10 days, to 3 days, with some exceptions.

Police departments would have just 24 hours to respond to provide arrest reports, including the narratives that explain the specific circumstances surrounding the arrests. While organizations facing unduly large or complicated budget requests would have 20 days to answer requests (currently they have 30 days).

Public bodies that fail to comply with the law would see fines increased from the current $1,000 to $15,000.

The second major change in the law calls for all state agencies to train any of their officers and employees authorized to grant or deny records and to annually certify in writing that it has done so.

More here.