Freedom of Information and Our Eroding Open Government

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This election cycle, the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information asked candidates to sign a pledge - to oppose weakening the state’s public document disclosure law, and to require that any attempts to weaken the law be subjected to public hearings and debate.  Only 10% of those to whom this pledge was sent have actually signed it, though. 

It’s a problem that FOI advocates have been battling against in Connecticut - a state with a tradition of strong support for open government - eroding year after year. This hour, we’ll listen to a panel discussion taped last week at Quinnipiac University, about the history of Freedom of Information Acts in America and what you have the right to know.

GUESTS: 

• Daniel Klau, Attorney with McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney and Carpenter in Hartford. He specializes in First Amendment and Media Law
• James Smith, retired newspaper editor, and president of the nonprofit Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information. He wrote a letter to Gov. Dannel Malloy calling for the release of state police information regarding the Sandy Hook investigation
• Khalilah Brown Dean, political science professor at Quinnipiac University 
• Edward Alwood, professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University