Early in his administration, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers was asked to produce a letter he’d gotten from departing Gov. Scott Walker, during the transition. He initially refused, claiming it was a “purely personal” communication outside of the reach of the state’s open records law.
Category: Opinion
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Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Lawmakers use costs to rebuff records requests
In May, as the state Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee considered a plan to spend far less on education than what Democrat Gov. Tony Evers proposed, Sheila Plotkin started filing public records requests.
Posted inHealth & Welfare, Justice & Safety, Opinion
Behind the story: Why we delayed publication of our labor trafficking report
While journalists’ first inclination is to bring you the news as soon as we learn it, we decided to delay release of the story and to conceal Roberto’s identity to minimize harm.
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Abrahamson let the sunshine in
As Justice Shirley Abrahamson ends her tenure on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, after 43 years and more than 1,300 authored opinions, she leaves a rich legacy of legal scholarship, importantly including her support for government transparency.
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Lawsuit put end to abusive practice
Wisconsin’s open records law applies to all records requests, big or small. But under former Attorney General Brad Schimel, the Wisconsin Department of Justice implemented a restrictive policy that limited access based on the number of potentially responsive emails.
Posted inOpinion
Wisconsin Watch’s ‘new look’
Your May piece by Natalie Yahr about illegals detained at our border reinforces the growing argument that our media is doing this country no favors by continuing to cover the immigration issue from just one perspective, i.e. “us vs. them.”
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Bill would block scrutiny of lottery winners
When University of Wisconsin-Madison student journalist Peter Coutu investigated frequent lottery winners in Wisconsin in 2018, he uncovered a pattern: The owners and clerks of stores that sell lottery tickets seemed to have more luck than normal.
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Body cam bill balances privacy, openness
When so much about politics is partisan, one might expect a topic like police body cameras to be contentious, particularly as it relates to public access to recordings.
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Don’t purge records of expunged cases
Wisconsin legislators are looking to reform current law governing the expungement of criminal records. Among other things, SB-39 would allow those convicted of crimes for which the maximum term of imprisonment is six years or less (including some felonies) to ask a judge to expunge their convictions even if they fail to do so at […]
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Obey law on public employee records
The behavior of public employees on the job is subject to public scrutiny in nearly every circumstance under Wisconsin law. That means the public has a right to see disciplinary records of all employees. The right doesn’t just apply to the records of elected or appointed officials. It doesn’t just apply to managers or supervisors. […]
Posted inOpinion
Your Right to Know: Democracy depends on open government
They say what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, but when it comes to public records, the state Legislature doesn’t seem to believe in this principle.
Posted inOpinion, Undemocratic: Secrecy and Power vs. The People
Your Right to Know: Wisconsin lawmakers embrace secrecy, fast-tracking
Many people in Wisconsin feel state government is moving in the wrong direction, away from the citizenry and toward the interests of politicians and their financial backers.