Keep the meetings open

Dothan (Ala.) Eagle: In 2005, the Alabama Legislature passed a retooled Open Meetings Law designed to provide more effective tools to prop open the doors of government to ensure public access. In less than 10 years, it’s back to the drawing board for open meetings, as three court rulings undermined the 2005 law.

It shouldn’t be such an arduous task to ensure that the government described by Lincoln as “of the people, by the people, for the people” is open to “the people.” Yet the Alabama Supreme Court, in dealing with a case about serial meetings that defy the spirit of open government, found that such meetings did not violate the law, basing the majority’s interpretation of a single phrase. Another high court decision disenfranchised two litigants who sued the Alabama Public Television Commission for discussing one’s job performance in a closed meeting. The court ruled that the litigants did not have standing, as they could not receive the civil fines.

Clearly, the intent is to ensure that all governmental deliberations are open to public scrutiny, with few specific exceptions. In the current legislative session, there are companion bills in the House and Senate that would stop the practice of circumvention by serial meetings, ensure that citizens have the legal standing to sue for violations of the Open Meetings Act and ensure that the Alabama Legislature, our lawmaking body, has a clear duty to meet in public except when it votes to go into executive session under proper conditions and procedures.