Tag: FOIA

Date: Aug. 1, 2013

The Mackinac Center is hosting a series of community events aimed at raising awareness of common problems encountered by those who attempt to request government records and provide information to those who want a better understanding of how the Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act work. Our state has valuable tools for holding public servants accountable but those tools are useless if people don't know about them or don't know how to use them.

Vic McCarty, host of "The Vic McCarty Show" on WMKT AM1270 in Traverse City, will be moderating this event.

The panelists will be:

• Miriam Aukerman, ACLU Staff Attorney


• Robin Luce-Herrmann, General Counsel, Michigan Press Association


• Michael J. Reitz, Executive Vice President, Mackinac Center for Public Policy

The event will be held on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013, from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

The Mackinac Center is hosting a series of community events aimed at raising awareness of common problems encountered by those who attempt to request government records and provide information to those who want a better understanding of how the Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act work. Our state has valuable tools for holding public servants accountable but those tools are useless if people don't know about them or don't know how to use them.

Tony Conley, host of "The Tony Conley Show" on Lansing's WILS AM1320, will be moderating this event.

The panelists will be:

• Mike Steinberg, Legal Director, ACLU
  
• Robin Luce-Herrmann, General Counsel, Michigan Press Association
  
• Patrick Wright, Director, Mackinac Center Legal Foundation
  
• John Bebow, President, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine

The event will be held on Wednesday, July 17, 2013 from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Baker College of Jackson, 2800 Springport Road, Jackson, Mich. 49202

If you cannot make it to Baker College next Thursday, mark your calendar for one of three other options. The calendar at the bottom has these dates set as well.

• July 24 in Grand Rapids
  
• Aug. 1 in Traverse City
  
• Aug. 7 in Troy

The inability for the Michigan Supreme court to hold government agencies to the freedom of information standards we THOUGHT we had in place as an oversight tool is a bit of a tragedy.  we should have the expectation that ALL correspondence done by our public officials on company time on government owned equipment is not private use. From a release:

State Supreme Court Failure to Rectify Disastrous FOIA Ruling `Must Be Fixed,' Says Center Attorney

Legislature should act swiftly to restore the intent behind Michigan's public disclosure law  

MIDLAND -- In a setback for government transparency, the Michigan Supreme Court yesterday refused again to hear an appeal of a lower court decision that misinterpreted the Freedom of Information Act and now thwarts disclosure of improper activity by public employees. The Mackinac Center and the Michigan Press Association had filed a joint amicus brief seeking to have the state Supreme Court overturn the ruling and uphold the true meaning of the statute.

"In one sense, the Court's decision is unsurprising, since the court rarely grants reconsideration motions," said Patrick Wright, director of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. "On the other hand, the Court of Appeals completely misread the law in a way that will help government officials hide criminal activity -- the exact opposite of FOIA's intent. This ruling must be fixed either by the Legislature or by the Michigan Supreme Court in a future case."

The case was originally filed by citizen-journalist Chetly Zarko in 2007. Zarko, who passed away in 2010, was seeking public-employee emails related to a labor conflict and potential illegal politicking in the Howell School District. The Michigan Education Association subsequently filed a suit to prevent the disclosure. A trial court ruled in Zarko's favor, but the Court of Appeals overturned that decision in a manner that significantly undermined the effectiveness of FOIA, which was enacted post-Watergate to enable the public to ferret out illegal governmental conduct.

In December 2010, the Supreme Court denied leave to appeal the decision in a 4-3 ruling. A reconsideration motion was filed by Zarko's attorneys in January and heard by a court that included two new justices.

"If allowed to stand, this ruling decimates FOIA and cries out for a quick fix," said Wright. "We should not permit state and local governments to hide their criminal activity from those they serve."

The spirit of that type of determination in revealing truth in government shall be missed. It was good for us and truly good for the elected officials in keeping them straight up.

The University of Michigan has barred about 2,000 people from its campus or parts of its campus since 2001, according to documents released this week by the university.

The policy is now under review.

Those restricted from campus receive trespass warnings that come with a lifetime ban that can only be lifted or modified by the campus police chief.