A representative government is dependent on an informed electorate
Wherever they may be on the political spectrum, most Wisconsinites would likely agree that the last year has been a lively one for open government issues in our state. Access issues — including Capitol access, records requests to university professors, arrests of photojournalists, and secret redistricting, to name a few — have regularly made the […]
Continue ReadingFor decades, a one-man toll booth operated at either the Martin Luther King Boulevard or West Washington Avenue entrances to Wisconsin’s Capitol. “Hey, what do you know?” Dick Wheeler, the dean of the Capitol press corps, would ask anyone entering or leaving. Wheeler, left hand holding his pipe, asked the question to the powerful and […]
Continue ReadingMarch 23, 2012 Contact:Kenneth Bunting, NFOIC executive director, (573) 882-3075, buntingk@missouri.eduBill Lueders, WFOIC president, (608) 669-4712, blueders@wisconsinwatch.org COLUMBIA, MO — Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, has been chosen to deliver the keynote address at the 2012 FOI Summit May 11 and 12 in Madison, […]
Continue ReadingThe decision released today by a panel of federal judges in Milwaukee contains some strong language regarding the secrecy of the process. It says (p. 5) that “Every effort was made to keep this work out of the public eye” and (p. 34) called the bill’s drafting “needlessly secret, regrettably excluding input from the […]
Continue ReadingThis Wisconsin Rapids Tribune article describes the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort’s desire for concealed carry permits to be made public.
Continue ReadingThe Baraboo News Republic describes its Opee award and the connection to its two sister publications.
Continue ReadingThe Appleton Post-Crescent describes the Opee award for Hilbert Village President Ken Stenklyft, who resigned his county board seat rather than stay silent about an open records issue.
Continue ReadingMarch 11 through 17 is Sunshine Week. Wisconsin has some of the strongest “sunshine laws” in the country, and I salute all of the Wisconsin records custodians, meeting organizers and others who diligently perform their duties under these laws. This spring, an important public records case is pending in our Wisconsin Supreme Court: Milwaukee Journal […]
Continue ReadingAs part of national Sunshine Week, March 11-17, the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council is bestowing its annual “Opee” Awards for openness in government. And Wisconsin state lawmakers have been tapped for both kinds of awards — good as well as bad. Six Opees are being given to eight individuals for 2011-12. The winners get […]
Continue ReadingIt’s time once again for proponents of open government and the free flow of information to celebrate Sunshine Week. But this year, we’ll be doing it under a cloud. The March 11-17 commemoration is sponsored by the American Society of News Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists and other groups. It occurs annually during the […]
Continue ReadingFebruary 16, 2012 Contact:Kenneth Bunting, NFOIC executive director, (573) 882-3075, buntingk@missouri.eduBill Lueders, WFOIC president, (608) 669-4712, blueders@wisconsinwatch.org COLUMBIA, MO — The National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) announced that it will join the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (WFOIC) in hosting the 2012 FOI Summit in Madison, WI, May 11-12. The annual FOI Summit, a […]
Continue ReadingWhen members of the Columbia County Board committee that handles employment issues voted to go into closed session on Jan. 4, a reporter from the Daily Register newspaper in Portage and a local representative of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) objected. The two critics pointed out that under the controversial […]
Continue ReadingThe Lakeland Times covers the story of the efforts of State Sen. Jim Holperin’s efforts to end the Legislature’s exemption from the public records retention law.
Continue ReadingHere’s a funny and instructive video on the right of citizens to take photos in public, courtesy of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
Continue ReadingFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJan. 31, 2012CONTACT: Andy Hall, 608-262-3642, ahall@wisconsinwatch.org Journalist Dick Wheeler chosen for Distinguished Wisconsin Watchdog Award Dick Wheeler, the late founder of the Wheeler Report, has been named the 2012 recipient of the Distinguished Wisconsin Watchdog Award in recognition of his four decades of tirelessly opening Wisconsin state government to public scrutiny. The […]
Continue ReadingWis. Freedom of Information Council to honor whistleblower, openness advocates The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, a state group devoted to protecting public access to meetings and records, is seeking nominees from news organizations and others for its annual Opee Awards, which are presented in March, just prior to national Sunshine Week, which this year […]
Continue ReadingWisconsin citizens who obtain a simple permit now have the right to carry concealed weapons, in most public places. According to the governor and the majority of state legislators, that’s going to make the state a safer place. Unfortunately, though, we’ll never know for sure. That’s because the Legislature saw fit to exempt the permitting […]
Continue ReadingEarlier this year, after Gov. Scott Walker was sued for the release of the thousands of emails he received at the height of the Capitol union protests, he posted a message on his web page: “Please know that any communications may be subject to release under Wisconsin’s public records law and that our policy is […]
Continue ReadingNovember 11, 2011 Chief Edward FlynnMilwaukee Police Department951 North James Lovell StreetMilwaukee, WI 53233 Re: Recent Photojournalists’ Arrests Dear Chief Flynn: The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (“WFOIC”) writes this letter to express its concern about the Department’s recent arrests of photojournalists performing their duties in Milwaukee, including Clinton Fillinger on September 19, 2011, and […]
Continue ReadingNo one deserves more credit for forging Wisconsin’s traditions of open government than the state Legislature. From passing the nation’s first public records law in 1849, one year after Wisconsin became a state, to the last major update of our Open Records and Open Meetings Laws in the early 1980s, the Legislature has been […]
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