About the Brechner Center
"The Brechner Center is an invaluable, hands-on resource not only for working journalists -- but for future journalists, as well. For my journalism courses at the University of Miami, I copy large sections of Brechner's A Citizen's Guide to Government in the Sunshine for students, and heavily cite the Guide's contents while lecturing on the importance of Florida's Public Records Law."
Ronnie Greene,
Veteran investigative reporter & Urban Affairs Editor, The Miami Herald
Adjunct Professor of Journalism, University of Miami
Terrorism’s Effects on Freedom of Information
1. How have State Records and Meetings Access changed since Sept. 11, 2001?
2. Which proposals after 9/11 did not succeed and why?
3. Which exemptions deal specifically with security?
1. How have State Records and Meetings Access changed since Sept.
11, 2001?
Florida was inundated with news coverage after the attacks because
some of the terrorists lived in the state, had driver's licenses
and took flight lessons. There are usually seven to ten public
records exemptions passed a year, bringing the grand total to 903.
Only six exemptions passed since Sept. 11 are specifically for
security and four of them were passed immediately after the attacks.
Other exemptions were proposed in the special sessions after 9/11,
but they died in committee or along the way, and if they were proposed
again during regular 2002 session, they were killed again.
There were 14 new exemptions passed in 2004, but only one dealt directly with security: blueprints. Five new exemptions were passed in 2003
including the special one for the Scripps project, but none dealt
with security issues. And of the ten new exemptions passed in the
2002 session, only one related to the security of blueprints. The
2001 regular session ended before Sept. 11, but special sessions
were held to balance the budget and during that time, four of the
new security exemptions were signed by Gov. Jeb Bush. (Preceding
from Florida First Amendment Foundation data)
There has been no real spike since then in the number of exemptions passed since Sept. 11. There was a rush of proposals to close records, but most of the records people sought to limit access to were already exempt.
2. Which proposals after 9/11 did not succeed and why?
•
A proposal to allow the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to
direct another agency to withhold a normally available public record,
such as driving or court records, for up to a week, with court
approval. (an aside: this bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Rod Smith,
D-Gainesville) Florida Senate
•
A proposal to require flight plans for crop dusters, but they don’t
file flight plans so the legislature couldn’t exempt what
didn’t exist.
•
A proposal requiring information on crop dusters themselves, but
they advertise in the Yellow Pages so you can see them in the phone
book but can’t find them through the Department of Agriculture.
• A proposal exempting seaport and airport security systems, but
they were already exempt from public record.
3. Which exemptions deal specifically with security?
The six records exemptions that deal specifically with security
are:
*All bill information found at Florida Senate Web site
• Session: 2001 C
•
S0016 Security-system Plan: exempts from public-records
requirements security-system plans or portion thereof; provides
exemption for public-meeting requirements for those portions of
any meeting which would reveal security-system plan or portion
thereof which is confidential & exempt under this act; provides
for future review & repeal; provides statement of public necessity.
• S 018 Emergency-management: Creates Fla. Stat. 395.1056, which exempts from public-records requirements those portions of comprehensive emergency-management plans that address the response of public or private hospitals to an act of terrorism. Further, it creates an exemption for those portions of said plan which address response of public hospital to said act and exempts from public-meeting requirements any portion of a public meeting which would reveal information contained in said plan.
• S022 Law Enforcement: Exempts a request by a law enforcement agency from another agency for information from public entity is exempt; provides that response of public entity to law enforcement agency for information is exempt; provides for future repeal & review; provides statement of public necessity.
• S020 Pharmaceutical: provides that any information identifying or describing name, location, pharmaceutical cache, contents, capacity, equipment, physical features, or capabilities of individual medical facilities, storage facilities, or laboratories established, maintained, or regulated by Health Department in response to act of terrorism are exempt from public-records requirements; provides for future review & repeal; provides statement of public necessity.
Session: 2002
•
CS/HB 735 Security System Plans: creates a public record exemption
for building plans, blueprints, schematic drawings, and diagrams
depicting the internal layout and structural elements of a building,
arena, stadium, water treatment facility, or other structure owned
or operated by an agency. Allows public access upon court order
and a showing of good cause. Stipulates that the exemption applies
retroactively.
Session: 2004
•
CS/HB 317 Blueprints and Building Plans: creates a public record
exemption for building plans, blueprints, schematic drawings and
diagrams, including drafts and preliminary formats, which depict
the internal or external layout or structural elements of an attractions
and recreation facility, entertainment/resort complex, industrial
complex, retail and service development, office development, and
hotel or motel development. Provides definitions. Allows disclosure
of the exempt records upon showing of good cause and court order.
Stipulates that the exemption does not apply to comprehensive plans
or site plans, or amendments to such plans, under local land development
regulations, local zoning regulations, or development-of-regional
impact review.
4. Does the State Senate President have the authority to close
portions of meetings and records because of security concerns?
Another legislative event after 9/11, unrelated to specifically
passed exemptions, caused concern in the state. On October 25,
2001, the Florida Senate approved by voice vote an amendment to
its rules. The change allows the Senate president to close portions
of meetings "concerning measures to address security, espionage,
sabotage, attack and other acts of terrorism."
The rule change
also closes “records, research, information, remarks, and
staff work products, made or received during or in preparation
for a closed meeting … for a period of 30 days after the
closed meeting" at which point the records become automatically
open. The Senate president, and every Senate president after that
term, has the authority to close the records for another five years.
The rule was used March 6, 2003 when for the first time since 1967,
Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville, agreed to close a meeting
of the Senate Home Defense, Public Security and Ports Committee,
a 10-member panel that reviewed a security system. (“SENATE
PANEL TO CONVENE IN SECRET; STATE "SUNSHINE" RULES SUSPENDED
FOR DISCUSSION OF FDLE SECURITY SYSTEM.” The Lakeland Ledger.
March 6, 2003.)
5. So what stopped this landslide of proposals from becoming
exemptions?
The Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, the First Amendment Foundation
along with 35 state newspapers participated in the "Sunshine
Sunday" initiative, which began in 2002 to stress the importance
of maintaining an open government. And in Fall 2002 a constitutional
amendment requiring a two-thirds majority of each house of the
Legislature to approve new exemptions to Florida's open-meetings
and public-records laws, passed with 77 percent approval from Florida
voters. (“Florida newspapers, broadcasters unite over public
records bills,” The Associated Press. March 15, 2003)
Charles Davis, executive director of the Freedom of Information
Center at the University of Missouri, said in a May 2002 news story
that only six states have narrowed public records laws since Sept.
11: Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Virginia and Washington.
The fact that 44 states did not follow suit is an indication of
the restraint many state lawmakers showed. (“Public records
are tougher to view since Sept. 11,” The Associated Press.
May 4, 2002.)
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For other perspectives of terrorism and open government, visit The Knight Foundation
