Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council

Suzanne Shell, a Colorado resident, learned the hard way that certain officials of Walworth County, Wisconsin,do not embrace open government. On March 27, 2003, Shell came to the Walworth County Courthouse in Elkhorn to do some filming for her documentary on child abuse investigations and prosecutions. Several hours later, she was in police custody, charged […]

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), federal legislation that aims to protect health information, is blocking access to personal health information that is in the public’s interest. Health care providers have long disclosed personal health data for purposes of treatment, research, public health initiatives, and insurance reimbursement, to name a few. Increasingly, such […]

The so-called Personal Protection Act now making its way through the state Legislature would allow concealed weapons virtually anywhere in the state, under the illogical theory that this would enhance public safety. But the most egregious part of this bill is its secrecy. As written, the proposed bill (SB-214 and AB-444) would exempt “records created […]

Do mosquitoes have HIPAA rights? You might have thought so if you read a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story last September reporting that the first West Nile virus-positive mosquitoes had been detected in Milwaukee County. City Health Department officials refused to reveal where the mosquitoes had been trapped. They gave two reasons: not wanting to alarm […]

Every so often a case comes along that reminds us how valuable Wisconsin’s open records laws and open meeting laws are to the concept of a free press. Just such a case is now pending before the Wisconsin Supreme Court — GPS Inc. v. the Town of St. Germain. GPS Inc., a contracting company, asked […]

Against the backdrop of bitter partisan fighting over the state budget, there was a flagrant act of good government committed in Madison this political season. In a spirit of bipartisanship seldom seen these days, the Wisconsin Legislature passed a bill that will go along way toward restoring Wisconsin’s time-honored reputation for open, clean government. The […]