Florida, in theory at least, has some of the strongest open records laws in the country. The concept is simple….governing is the people’s business, we pay for it, we own it, theoretically at least we direct it and so we have a right to know what they are doing. So important are these concepts that they are embodied not just in Florida’s Statutes, but also in Florida’s Constitution.
But in this scary new era in which we live, our criminal governor is refusing to comply with these laws and is powerfully rejecting all of our Constitutional rights. Like all the times he famously took the Fifth Amendment in a deposition, he has simply shut down your government and will not respond to you. From an article in today’s St.Petersburg Times:
Our state’s new governor, Rick Scott, has shown a contempt for the spirit of the law. Clearly he does not think that what he does is the public’s business at all. His underlings fight and stall even the most routine requests for what he is up to, and they have started billing people for asking.
One of Scott’s top advisers admitted in a recent e-mail sent from her private e-mail account: “I rarely check and almost never respond to work e-mail because of the open records law.”
Please read the full article here, but most importantly, please log on and join the Florida First Amendment Foundation, please bookmark their page, understand what the Foundation does and make a small donation to support their mission. There is a reason why our First Amendment was made first, and it is dangerously under attack…
IT’S UP TO YOU TO DEFEND YOUR RIGHTS
