Tag Archives: transparency

Michele Jacklin: Nix these new restraints on Connecticut’s FOI Act – Connecticut Mirror

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04/26/2023
By Michele Jacklin

The silence has been deafening. Curiously so. As state lawmakers continue to hack away at Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act, the response from members of the public and the news media has been confounding passivity.
The curtain is threatening to come down on the state’s groundbreaking law, enacted in 1975, which opened up the inner workings of government — state and municipal — for all to see. The state’s FOIA became the model upon which other states and nations promoted public access and government transparency.
But now Connecticut’s law is in grave danger. Where once there were five explicit exemptions to the FOIA there are now 28 and counting. At least a half-dozen anti-FOIA bills have been approved by legislative committees and are due to be voted upon by the House and the Senate. (Read More)

State police findings demand greater transparency – New Haven Register

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06/12/2022
From the New Haven Register

Failing to investigate crimes. Driving while intoxicated. Improper searches. Violating protective orders.

These are a few of the misdeeds, some of them criminal in nature, that Connecticut State Police officers have been found to have taken part in over recent years. Most of the complaints, however, had long been hidden from public view. Thanks to reforms that have allowed for greater transparency, those complaints are now available to the public. (Read More)

Seized evidence should not be kept secret – Connecticut Mirror

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03/11/19 – By Michael Savino

The Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information advocates, on behalf of the news media and other open government advocates, to preserve the public’s right to know through Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act. Our organization has been leading the way in the fight for transparency since 1955. (Read More)

Bill would allow too much police secrecy – The Day of New London

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03/10/19 – By The Day Editorial Board

Imagine that the son of a local politician is arrested on charges that the business he operates is a front for illegal drugs sales. In ferreting out the alleged illegal operation, police execute search warrants and seize records and property. (Read More)

Editorial: Police investigations are, and must remain, public – Hartford Courant

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03/10/19 – By Editorial

The Connecticut Supreme Court got it right in October when it ruled that documents seized in the course of a police investigation are public. But now, a bill in the legislature would put a cloak over such documents and effectively shield many aspects of police investigations from the public. (Read More)

Transparency helps public understand actions of police – Meriden Record-Journal

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03/08/19 – Editorial

A proposed bill seeking an exemption from state Freedom of Information laws would greatly hinder the public’s right to know. In the interests of transparency it should not move forward. (Read More)

Top prosecutor says bill that would have kept Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza’s writings secret is needed to protect privacy rights – Hartford Courant

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03/06/19 – by Dave Altimari

Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane told legislators Wednesday he was surprised the state Supreme Court released Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza’s private documents and that a new bill he champions is needed to protect the privacy rights of people and correct the court’s ruling on what documents should be publicly available. (Read More)

Police Secrecy Bill Should Be Defeated – Danbury News-Times

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03/06/19 – By Hearst Connecticut Media Group Editorial Board

The public does not need more secrecy from police. If anything, there should be less. (Read More)

What Should Remain Public Information In Criminal Investigations? – CTNewsJunkie.com

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03/07/19 – By Jack Kramer

HARTFORD, CT — Whether the public should have access to all evidence seized in a criminal investigation was the subject of a Judiciary Committee public hearing Wednesday. (Read More)

Bill would expand police secrecy – CTPost

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03/06/19 – By Ken Dixon

HARTFORD — A battle broke out Wednesday between law enforcement officials who want to expand their secrecy protections and those promoting the public’s right to open records and government transparency, over controversial legislation that would expand items exempt from the state Freedom of Information Act. (Read More)