“Sunshine is the strongest antiseptic … its rays may penetrate areas previously closed,” so opined the late-Hon. Robert H. Miller, a former chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court, as he explained in a court case why government records must be open under penalty of law.
His sage admonition of 30 years ago remains true today. For one need only look to current events in North Korea, for example, where a tourist can easily find him or herself whisked away by state police and accused of any manner of offense, including crimes subject to the death penalty, with the only explanation given that the defendant is a spy. No supporting information. Nothing.
And we Americans scratch our heads and ask how this can be. Alas, we need look no further than Eastern and Central Europe for like examples of secret proceedings that were routine in the former Soviet Bloc countries and Yugoslavic republics. Continue>>>
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