SPRING 2005 NEWSLETTER
GEORGIA FOI ACCESS
GEORGIA FIRST AMENDMENT FOUNDATION

Georgia open government history

Research by Tom Bennett
in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

1939 -- As the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Bill of Rights approaches, the Georgia Legislature ratifies it.

1945 -- Ralph McGill, editor of The Atlanta Constitution, tours the world for the American Society of Newspaper Editors, urging nations to open access to news after World War II.

1959 -- Georgia Open Meetings Act signed into law; language about records is added sometime later.

1965 -- U.S. Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act drops 35-year cloak of secrecy on public campuses. Among the information restricted by the law is campus crime data.

1974 -- Roy Barnes elected to General Assembly.

1975 -- General Assembly wins Coggin v. Davey lawsuit against WGST Radio, exempting itself from its own Open Meetings Act.

1981 -- From Atlanta, CNN begins beaming news around the world that is not censored by governments.

1982 -- Trials and pretrial hearings in criminal cases may not be closed unless there is "clear and present danger" to the defendant's right to fair trial. R.W. Page Corp. v. Lumpkin.

-- Michael Bowers elected attorney general of Georgia.

1984 -- Names, salaries and job titles of public hospital employees are public records. Richmond County Hospital Authority v. Southeastern Newspapers.

1986 -- University of Georgia Athletic Association records are open. Macon Telegraph Publishing Co. v. Board of Regents.

1987 -- City of Atlanta investigative files on child murders are open, but the trial court should have deleted certain information. Napper v. Georgia Television Co.

1988 -- Cameras may be prohibited from court only if they would violate due process of law or detract from the dignity and decorum of the court. Georgia Television Co. v. Napper.

1990 -- Records of accreditation of hospitals, public and private, are open. Georgia Hospital Association v. Ledbetter.

1991 -- "If there is the slightest doubt . . . whether a matter can be the subject of a closed meeting, DO NOT CLOSE, " Justice Norman S. Fletcher writes in Steele v. Honea.

-- The records of athletics-related income of coaches at UGA and Georgia Tech are open. Dooley v. Davidson and The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution.

1992 -- A fee for records is allowed only when the request involves an unusual administrative cost or burden. McFrugal Rental of Riverdale Inc. v. Garr. The car rental agency helps to open government in Georgia.

1993 -- Records of University of Georgia Student Organizational Court are open. Red & Black Publishing Co. v. Board of Regents. A national breakthrough in campus transparency.

1994 -- "Veggie libel": Georgia and 13 other states adopt legislation drafted by Washington farm lobby making it illegal to criticize perishable food products. The law remains in the Georgia Code and never has been challenged.

1995 -- Records of combinations of private hospitals and public housing hospital authorities are open. Northwest Georgia Health Systems Inc. v. Times Journal Inc. But hospitals move to layer newly formed private corporations atop the authorities, rendering them toothless.

1996 -- The public has a right to know the terms of a settlement agreement in which a public entity has settled a lawsuit. City of Helen v. White County News.

-- State bars "SLAPP" suits: Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, a victory for Atlanta office of American Civil Liberties Union.

1998 -- Thurbert Baker is appointed attorney general of Georgia. Writes law creating the attorney general's Open Government Mediation Program. Later that year Baker is elected to a full term. His first major letter ruling opens meetings of Augusta-Richmond County Aviation Commission.

1999 -- On his first legislative day as governor, Roy Barnes writes, ramrods and signs three sweeping reforms: three-day response for records requests; affidavits required to justify closing a meeting; and computer records are open the same as paper ones.

-- Cobb County Superior Court is first in state to place records online, although eight exemptions are insisted upon by the chief judge.

-- Georgia Open Government Survey of 316 agencies. Permitting inspection of public documents were: city police, 62 percent; county sheriffs, 50 percent; city council minutes, 93 percent; county commission minutes, 89 percent; school superintendent employment contracts, 47 percent.

2001 -- Georgia rape confidentiality statute unconstitutional. Dye v. Wallace. But media voluntarily continue to shield rape victims' names.

-- Pressured by education lobbies, Governor Barnes extends to 325,000 school employees the blanket protection against media scrutiny enjoyed by judges and law enforcement officers.

2002 -- When there is no substantial justification for closing a meeting, attorney fees must be awarded to the person or group that sues to open a meeting. Evans County Board of Commissioners v. Claxton Enterprise.

-- Media, law enforcement groups cooperate to write "Blue Book" of Georgia law enforcement open records.

-- "Keenan Principle of Georgia Open Government" voiced by GBI Director Vernon Keenan: "A record is open unless it is specifically exempted from release."

2003 -- Homeland security exemptions move into U.S. Freedom of Information Act and Georgia sunshine laws, creating open-ended secrecy for meetings and records about security. In addition, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announces it will seek nondisclosure agreements with first responders --- police, fire, ambulance drivers. Each would agree not to disclose information under their state open records acts.