Bill Lueders

YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW: Opees honor efforts to promote transparency

Published by admin on Thu, 03/07/2024 - 11:47am

For the 18th straight year, the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council is recognizing outstanding efforts to protect the state’s tradition of open government through its Openness in Government awards, or Opees.

The awards are being presented as part of national Sunshine Week, March 10-16.

Awards are being given this year in six categories. The winners are:

Public Openness Award (“Popee”): Curt Green

YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW: Protect the press against bogus lawsuits

Published by admin on Thu, 10/19/2023 - 8:07am

In mid-August, in my role as a press advocate, I received a call from the owner of a small, vibrant, online community newspaper who was worried about publishing a story that reflected poorly on a local business. The paper had checked and rechecked its facts and gave the business repeated opportunities to comment. But still, the newspaper owner was afraid of being sued.

YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW: Record delays are contrary to the law

Published by admin on Sun, 07/16/2023 - 10:58am

In early April, I requested some records from the Madison Police Department regarding what it said was the sole disciplinary action taken against an MPD officer or employee in the first three months of this year.

It was an exceedingly minor matter — a sergeant who got a one-day suspension for sending an “unprofessional email to command staff.” All I wanted was to see the complaint that would disclose what the email said and some document that explained how the matter was concluded. Just a few sheets of paper.

Raise the bar on police transparency

Published by admin on Mon, 07/06/2020 - 11:35am

Recently, the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information issued a statement calling for greater transparency and accountability from law enforcement. They were joined by more than 50 groups, including the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, Wisconsin Newspaper Association and the Wisconsin Transparency Project.

Opinion: Your Right to Know

Published by admin on Tue, 04/28/2020 - 10:17am

Believe it or not, this has been a relatively quiet time on the open government front.

In my role with the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, I often field calls from reporters and citizens regarding the problems they are experiencing getting access to public meetings and records.

In recent weeks, those calls are down, way down, from maybe two a day to one a week.

This is happening during a time of tremendous upheaval in how meetings are being conducted in Wisconsin, now that they cannot take place in an actual group setting.

Evers can do better on openness

Published by admin on Fri, 10/25/2019 - 10:05am

Early in his administration, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers was asked to produce a letter he’d gotten from departing Gov. Scott Walker during the transition. He initially refused, claiming it was a “purely personal” communication outside of the reach of the state’s open records law.