n.a statute requiring public access to meetings and records of a governmental bodyApplegate 1975, 547One wonders, under the federal disclosure of information regulations and the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Sunshine Law, whether most of the records preserved in private isolation by agencies denying access could not be opened under court order to qualified researchers.Baumann 1986, 353This trend at the federal level—impediments to access or the appearance to countervene [sic] the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act—has already begun to creep into state government. A recent study of the open meeting requirements of “sunshine” laws in the fifty states suggests there are efforts to close decision-making at public institutions.Zanish-Belcher 2019a, 18Citizens still have ways to challenge and question records’ restriction or destruction and to protect open access, including Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, sunshine laws, and calls for public comment on appraisal decisions.Cornell 2022Sunshine laws are regulations requiring public disclosure of government agency meetings and records. Sunshine laws require specific businesses and government agencies to maintain transparency and disclose their activities to the public. The primary objective of these laws is to prevent fraud, corruption, inequality, and to maintain high ethical standards within such businesses and agencies.
Notes
State sunshine laws followed the federal Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976.
