News Roundup: Threats to Public Records Access in the States

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida AG Moody have filed a brief asking a state appeals court to uphold a lower court’s ruling allowing DeSantis to withhold the release of records by claiming “executive privilege.”

Inquiriespress@americanoversight.org

In Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ongoing fight to shield his office from transparency, his office and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a brief asking a state appeals court to uphold a lower court’s ruling allowing DeSantis to withhold the release of records by claiming “executive privilege.”

Such an exemption is not mentioned in the state’s constitution, which Florida voters amended in 1992 to enshrine the public’s right to records — including those belonging to the executive branch.

Michael Barfield of the Florida Center for Government Accountability warned that DeSantis’ argument seriously endangers the public’s ability to hold his administration accountable. “The breadth of it is just stunning,” Barfield told Politico. “The sky’s the limit. … Unbridled raw executive power.”
An anonymous requester had sued for records related to DeSantis’ state Supreme Court selections. In January, a state judge agreed with DeSantis’ executive privilege claims, despite no court having previously recognized the existence of such a privilege with regard to Florida’s governor. The case was then brought to the Florida 1st District Court of Appeal.

In July, American Oversight and several public interest groups, including the Florida Center for Government Accountability, filed an amicus brief urging the appeals court to reverse the lower court’s ruling.

As the amicus brief — also signed by Integrity Florida Institute, and the League of Women Voters of Florida and its Education Fund — outlines, the lower court’s novel recognition of executive privilege “upends decades of jurisprudence” interpreting the state’s public records law, stifles the public’s ability to be informed about the government’s actions, and runs contrary to precedent requiring that courts interpret the law in favor of openness over secrecy.
“Access to records about the governor’s decision-making process for appointing a member of the judiciary serves a critical role in democracy,” the amicus brief reads. “[T]he trial court’s ill-defined and overly broad recognition of an executive privilege opens the door for the Executive Branch to incrementally increase the scope of the privilege over time.”

Here are some recent headlines related to public records law and transparency in other states:

We asked a state agency for some basic information eight months ago. We’re still waiting (Minnesota Reformer)
Attorney General’s office asks judge to block FOI request (Arkansas Business)
Drafting a Freedom of Information Act amendment proving to be a delicate task, supporters say (Arkansas Online)
Gianforte, state health department sued over refusal to release public documents (Montana Free Press)
Nebraska senators hoping to make changes to state’s public records laws (Journal Star)
Virginia NAACP sues Youngkin for records behind denials of felons’ voting rights (NBC Washington)

News Roundup: Threats to Public Records Access in the States

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