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TRUST YOUR GOVERNMENT?
In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson, no pantywaist as a politician himself, signed into law the Freedom of Information Act to give citizens the right to see information held by federal officials. Virginia followed a few years later with a similar act applying to state and local governments. Sunshine, these wise people believed, would help keep grunge from growing in offices of the public trust.
Fast-forward to 2006. In Spotsylvania County, bad blood is brewing between schools Superintendent Jerry Hill and some other people. Mr. Hill is charged with elections violations and obstruction of justice after his employees pass out fliers in the schools blasting the Board of Supervisors' position on a school-bond referendum.
Later, the criminal charges are all dropped. Still later, the aggrieved Mr. Hill decides to explore filing a civil suit against unnamed antagonists. His lawyer, using FOIA, requests to see all public records of allegations against him or connected to his criminal case.
County officials release some documents to Mr. Hill's lawyer and withhold others. But two e-mails have parts blacked out because the information is not about public business, according to County Attorney Jacob Stroman.
The plot thickens. What was in those blacked-out portions? This newspaper requests the same e-mails and gets the same response. Concerned that a cloud is beginning to block FOIA's sunshine, The Free Lance-Star suggests that the county allow the Virginia FOIA Advisory Council to take a look at the e-mails and see if the redacted portions truly fall into the narrowly defined exclusionary area. The county attorney declines. With no alternative, then, Mr. Hill files a FOIA lawsuit.
Now, why should you care about this ratty little three-act Spotsylvania play? Because lawsuits are expensive, and if you're a county resident, you'll be paying the bill for the county's obstinacy. Because Mr. Hill, as a citizen, has a right to information, and setting up expensive roadblocks to his pursuit of justice is contrary to the principle of open government. Because the information the county chooses to withhold today may be relevant only to Mr. Hill, but a precedent will be established so that the information you seek tomorrow could be bottled up. Because freedom undefended is soon lost.
FOIA's intent is to keep government aboveboard and to keep petty politics, personal differences, and partisanship from polluting the people's business. After obtaining an unredacted copy of one of the two e-mails in question, this newspaper sent it to the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. Jennifer Perkins, executive director, reviewed the document. She strongly disagrees with the county attorney's position in blacking out portions of it. "He has contorted both the letter and the spirit of the FOIA law" in doing so, Ms. Perkins says.
Mr. Stroman has some explaining to do. Whether you agree or not with Superintendent Hill's quest, his right to pursue it should not be frustrated by an officialdom whose motives can reasonably be construed as self-interested: Mr. Stroman represents the Board of Supervisors, who could end up the respondents in any civil suit that Mr. Hill decides to file.
There's an easy way to quash these suspicions: Let the sun shine in Spotsylvania County.
