Our View: Sunshine Week: Keep government open

This week is Sunshine Week, an annual time designed to encourage openness in governments around the United States.

The Society of Professional Journalists and dozens of others groups take part in activities marking the week.

Newspapers seem to be especially involved, but many other groups — blogs, libraries, civic groups and educators — highlight the advantages of open government at this time of the year.

Montana’s laws concerning open government and public access to records are pretty good. For the most part, the public has a right to see public documents and to attend meetings when important decisions are discussed and made.

Montana’s Constitution guarantees that most meetings be open to the public and that public records can be inspected at will, though there is also a strong privacy component to the constitution, which sometimes clashes with the public’s right to know.

Recently the Havre Daily News legally challenged the Montana University System’s efforts to close a sexual harassment case we felt should be open to the public. The hearing officer ruled in our favor, but even with the help of the Montana Newspaper Association’s hotline, the legal bills mounted. That’s hard for a small newspaper, but virtually impossible for your everyday concerned citizen who wants to challenge the state’s right to conceal documents or hold a hearing behind closed doors.

There is a tendency among government officials to fight public disclosure. Sometimes that’s because of corruption in government, but way more often it’s because they are afraid the truth may be unseemly or that it will just be easier to keep the facts from the public for the time being.

That’s why vigilance is required.

Newspapers are often the front line in the battle for open governments, but many others benefit from the prying closed doors open. In recent years, more civic organizations and bloggers have joined the effort to let the sun shine on the inside of governments.

To those who fight efforts to shut the doors on public information, we salute — yes, the newspaper, but other groups, broadcast media, civic groups, individuals, bloggers and others — we offer our thanks and a big salute.