A healthy system of self-government — something Rhode Island, unfortunately, lacks — depends on public access to information about the activities of those who hold power in the people’s name.
This is something the public must insist on, because when politicians get to decide whether privacy or disclosure should take precedence, it is a safe bet the politicians will come down against the public.
It’s not hard to figure out why: public disclosure makes it harder for politicians to dodge accountability and to give special treatment to favored allies. The politicians who have plied their connections to win lifetime seats on the Rhode Island Supreme Court obviously feel the same. Continue…
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