The Price Of Stonewalling
Sen. Glenn McConnell and Warren Lasch’s “Friends of the Hunley” group was ordered to pay nearly $140,000 in legal fees last month to a Greenville man who sued them for improperly denying access to public records … and prevailed.
Of course it’s not the amount that’s newsworthy, it’s the impact the case could have on South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) – a vital tool used by journalists, bloggers and citizens to get information about how their money is being spent.
In light of the current debate over government transparency, this tale of secrecy and evasion is worth telling – which is why it amazes us that no mainstream media outlet picked up on the ruling.
Anyway, we were just forwarded a copy of Judge Joseph Strickland’s ruling, so stay tuned for an in-depth analysis …
Comments
By John on March 18th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Do you think the major newspapers are afraid of writing about this? This should be front page news – one of the most powerful men in South Carolina thumbs his nose at the FOIA and gets caught.
Newspapers should be all over this – they need the FOIA if they expect to do their job well.
Without a strong FOIA, it is mighty easy for a government to become corrupt.
By Mike on March 18th, 2009 at 9:38 am
SC’s MSM (especially the state’s AP subscriber newspapers) only get interested in FOIA issues about once a year- when execute their silly, “undercover” expose’ of the massive conspiracy by small government agencies (primarily local law enforcement) to charge different rates for copies of reports. Reporters show up at police departments and sheriff’s offices all over the state to get reports and documents and then splash front page coverage all over the next week, incensed that some cost a quarter and others $3. Quite a conspiracy…
Compare that manufactured, feigned outrage to the fact that they won’t touch much more important and relevant stories that threaten their relationship to the status quo. This Hunley/FOI story is a perfect example, although the list goes on- the Clemson salary debacle was last month’s.
By cgi-bin laden on March 18th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Joe Strickland is a Master-in-Equity. Slight difference, but us law nerds notice.
By Jim on March 18th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Strickland was sitting in this case as a Special Circuit Judge, as he often does.
By whats that! on March 18th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
You are all fools. McConnell won this, at a price, but still wins the overall war. Don’t you get it. You can’t beat the General!