The Forum

Sunshine Week is a collaborative week of recognition that takes place every year among individuals and groups representative of educators, journalists, government, citizens and community members, as well as the private sector. The purpose is to shine a light on the importance of the people’s access to public records, open government, and freedom of information. Sunshine week is non-partisan and held annually in mid-March coinciding with the birthday of James Madison (March 16 ,1751). Madison was the fourth president of the United States and is celebrated as a pivotal figure in the drafting and ratification of the Constitution as well as for his advocacy in maintaining the public’s right to know about the functions and operations of government. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal statute enacted July 5, 1967, which allows for individuals to request access to some federal agency records, barring certain exemptions. The goal of FOIA is to make the functions of U.S. government agencies more transparent to its citizens, allowing Americans to more readily identify and address problems in government operations.

This year Sunshine Week 2025 was held Sunday, March 16 through Saturday, March 22. A host of live and virtual media events and educational activities were coordinated by the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University off Florida College of Journalism and Communications to help increase knowledge for the public, journalists, policymakers and all other stakeholders interested in the culture and practice of open government. Showcasing the importance of the citizen’s right to know, events included conferences and other events engaging citizens from all walks of life to highlight the effective use of public records

requests.

For some examples of reports that were only made possible by using Freedom of Information requests, consider the following:

Water Contamination Crisis in Flint, Michigan:

FOIA requests revealed extensive government documents including emails and internal communications which exposed the severity of the lead contamination and how the government initially minimized the severity of the issue going back as far as 2014.

ICE Detention Center Conditions:

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), lawsuits were filed against the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in

2019 due to lack of response to HRW FOIA requests. Subsequent DHS and ICE responsive documents received by HRW exposed poor conditions and human rights abuses in ICE detention centers, including inadequate medical care, overcrowding, and detainees being severely mistreated.

Pandemic Response Failures:

Dozens of FOIA requests filed with various government and international agencies, from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the World Health Organization (WHO) have helped to obtain documents that have highlighted the federal government's failures in its initial responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of Americans and citizens worldwide were affected by the United States government’s responses or lack thereof, which was detrimental to the health of citizens on a global scale. FOIA requests revealed a range of concerns that included, but were not limited to delays in testing, shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), mismanagement of state and federal resources, and the extremely disproportionate numbers of disease transmissions and deaths of the country's most vulnerable populations of elderly, poor, black and brown people.

The Forum is marking this year’s 20th anniversary of Sunshine Week with this introductory article as the first in a series which will include some focus on Missouri’s Sunshine Law. It is ever more important that the public have access to information that keeps them informed on what their government is doing. These have shown to be especially turbulent times among legislators in government and continue to create uncertainties for average citizens because of decisions made by policy makers whom the people have put into office.

Citizens need to be informed to make the best decisions for their families and communities. As always, the Forum recognizes the importance of keeping our readers aware and empowered. We will continue to shine a light on pertinent information that affects our community.