WINTER 2005 NEWSLETTER
GEORGIA FOI ACCESS
GEORGIA FIRST AMENDMENT FOUNDATION

Sen. Isakson to receive 2006 Weltner Freedom of Information Award
‘Open government is vital to a healthy democracy’

By Tom Bennett

Atlanta, Ga., Dec. 9, 2005 –In only his third month as a member of the U.S. Senate this year, Johnny Isakson placed Georgia squarely in the list of states desiring to strengthen the federal Freedom of Information Act.

For this and strong support of open government while in the General Assembly, the Republican from Cobb County is the Georgia First Amendment Foundation’s enthusiastic choice to receive the 2006 Charles L. Weltner Freedom of Information Award.

Isakson took his seat in the Senate in January. On March 15, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) held hearings on the effectiveness of the 1966 FOIA. That day Isakson announced his decision to co-sponsor Cornyn’s S1181. This would make the legislative process more transparent and strengthen the battered FOIA. It would require exemptions to be "stated explicitly within the text of the bill." It has passed the Senate and at this writing is in the House Government Reform Committee. The other co-sponsors are Sens. Lamar Alexander (X-TN), Russell Feingold (D-WI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA).

"Our government is not based on the need to know but the fundamental right to know," Isakson told the Judiciary Committee in June. "Open government is vital to a healthy democracy. This legislation will help reinforce our national commitment to openness in government."

Isakson recalled that he met Cornyn "in one of those get-to-know you conversations. One thing led to another, and then we talked about my 1990 race for governor," Isakson said. "In that race, disclosure was a big issue. John brought up that he had a bill to make government more responsive and timely, and I immediately signed on. I have found that sunshine is a great antiseptic, and when it is practiced pervasively, you tend to have a better environment."

Cornyn and Isakson, who have been added to the Senate since 2002, are powerful examples of leadership in open government that is now beginning to emerge from the Sun Belt states.

While serving in the Georgia General Assembly, including as minority leader of the Senate, Isakson joined his fellow Cobb Countian, Democrat Roy Barnes. They led bipartisan efforts achieving fundamental aspects of Georgia’s sunshine laws. Title 50, with its laws for open meetings and open records, was codified in 1981. Also in those years from 1976 to 1998, a "golden era" for Georgia FOI, we received our definitions for agencies, meetings and public records, and our right to inspect and make copies.

"It WAS a bipartisan effort," Isakson recalled. I was in the (Georgia) House, he was in the Senate. We both ran for governor in 1990; he lost in the primary and I lost in the general election. After that I got his seat in the Senate, and he got my seat in the House."

Isakson is a former longtime president of Northside Realty, and it was that industry’s move to Internet listing of home-sale prices in the late 1980’s that was the granddaddy of disclosure of government data, assimilated and organized on the web.

"We made that giant leap to put the information on the Internet," Isakson said. "It was done by the multiple listing services, which were confederations or associations that competed with each other. That opened the door to wide dissemination of critical information."

WELTNER BANQUET SET FOR JAN. 28

Sen. Isakson will be the guest of honor at the fifth Charles L. Weltner Freedom of Information Banquet, hosted by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. The banquet is set for Saturday, Jan. 28, 2006 at the JW Marriott Buckhead hotel, 3300 Lenox Road in Atlanta and adjoining Lenox Square. The hotel telephone number 404-262-3344. Business attire is appropriate. A reception with a cash bar begins at 6:15 p.m. with dinner promptly at 7:00 p.m. To contact GFAF for sponsorships and tickets, contact info@gfaf.org or phone 404-525-3646.

Throughout that day at the same Buckhead hotel, issues of press and speech freedoms will be among the lively topics of the Georgia Bar, Media and Judiciary Conference. This is an annual get-together among lawyers, reporters and judges seeking an informal means to let off steam, find common ground on press and broadcast issues. For more information about the conference, now nearing its second decade, contact the Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Athens at icle@iclega.org or telephone (706) 369-5664,

LEGISLATOR, CONGRESSMAN, SENATOR

His lined and weathered face testifies to the sincerity with which Johnny Isakson embraces public service. He was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1977 to 1990 and its Republican leader from 1983 to 1990; Republican nominee for governor in 1990; a member of the Georgia State Senate in 1993-96; candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1996; Chairman of the Georgia Board of Education in 1996-97; member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2004; and won election to the Senate in 2004.

The 1966 graduate of the University of Georgia was president of Northside Realty from 1979 to 1998, and chief executive officer of Fairgreen Capital, L.P., in 1966-99. He is married to Dianne and they have three children – John, Kevin and Julie.

LIFE BREATHED INTO OLD WORDS

The Weltner award established by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation is named for a distinguished former chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court; member of Congress from Atlanta’s Fifth District; and lawyer and Superior Court judge. He fought for transparency and ethics in government.

"Our court has breathed life into some old words that have been dormant within our Constitution for most of their century-old existence," Weltner wrote in his last court opinion in 1992 before dying of cancer. "The words are: ‘Public officers are the trustees and servants of the people and are at all times amenable to them.’"

The previous recipients of the Weltner Award are Eason Jordan, chief news executive and president of newsgathering, CNN News Group, 2002; Thurbert Baker, Georgia Attorney General, 2003; Roy Barnes, former governor of Georgia, 2004; and Norman Fletcher, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, 2005.

OPPORTUNITIES TO SPONSOR

The 214-year-old speech and press freedoms in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution are under siege in an era of terrorism and hysteria about computer invasiveness and individual privacy. The Weltner banquet is the primary source of funds for Georgia First Amendment Foundation to operate for another year. It is the sole organization with the express purpose of teaching Georgians 352 days a year that they have open meetings and open records, and they ARE the law.

The sponsorship levels for Weltner ’06 are Premium, $10,000; Platinum, $5,000; Gold, $2,500; Silver, $1,500. A single ticket costs $250.

The Georgia First Amendment Foundation was incorporated in 1994 and it hired Emory law graduate Hollie Manheimer as its one and only executive director in 1996. Its board of directors is made up of Georgia leaders in the Associated Press, broadcast, journalism education, media law, print and the Georgia Library Association. Hyde Post, editorial director of ajc.com, is president of GFAF.

The 2006 Weltner committee consists of Dr. Carolyn Carlson of Georgia State University, chair; Tom Bennett, Tom Budlong, Peter Canfield, Gary Clark, Hyde Post, Barbara Stinson and Hollie Manheimer.

Tom Bennett of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is a GFAF volunteer.