Year after year, the state’s open-records law cracks a door to the activities of government that might otherwise stay secret. Information gleaned with its help has a power to change lives for the better and make governments more accountable.
But some officials continue to ignore the S.C. Freedom of Information Act or find ways around it.
When it has worked, the law has helped expose faults in the system for investigating police shootings and lifted a veil hiding shoddy care of foster children.
While these are examples of how The Post and Courier has used the FOIA over the past year, it remains a tool for all people to get information that agencies are not eager to share. Today is the start of Sunshine Week, a time that advocates use to celebrate triumphs and address shortcomings of open-government laws and to teach people how to use them. Continue…
————————