Obama sets example on sunshine laws

On the heels of an administration that looked for reasons to refuse Freedom of Information Act requests, President Barack Obama started his first full day in office with a vow to do just the opposite.

"In the face of doubt, openness prevails," Obama wrote in a memo to agency directors.

Specifically, Obama revoked the Bush policy that took effect in the wake of 2001 terrorist attacks. Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft promised to defend any legal justification for rejecting requests made under the 42-year-old Freedom of Information law.

Freedom of information watchdogs have praised Obama's directive to assume information should be public unless there is a clear need to keep it private.

"Yesterday's policy of 'When in doubt, leave it out,' today became, 'When in doubt, let it out.' And this policy will help keep the public informed in our technology-driven, connected society. On open government, the dawn is breaking," Rick Blum, coordinator of the Sunshine in Government Initiative, said in a written statement.

We join in the praise for a policy that moves away from secrecy and toward more openness.

We also know any relationship between the public and politicians will have growing pains. The Associated Press has protested the Obama administration's decision to release staff photos from the Oval Office instead of inviting in photojournalists. CNN was frustrated that coverage of Obama's second swearing-in ceremony was limited. When Obama made a surprise visit to the White House press room, he seemed surprised that journalists asked him tough questions.

Regardless, we are encouraged by the example he set on FOIA.

More importantly, we urge local, county and state governments to embrace Obama's standards. We have seen far too many violations of the spirit of a law meant to provide transparency.

Let's start with Cook County, which debated and passed a "billion dollar" hospital budget last fall without producing a copy of the document.

Or we could look at the College of DuPage Board, which has refused to provide documents related to its expansion and won't explain why it fired the college's president.

Finally, most offensive was Gov. Rod Blagojevich's July decision to use the law to get back at a critic. Associated Press FOIA requests seeking lists of state job candidates were rejected, citing privacy concerns. But when state Rep Jack Franks suggested the Illinois House should begin impeachment proceedings because the governor was under investigation, Blagojevich's office released a 2003 list of names Franks submitted for jobs or appointments.

These are just a few of the recent high-profile abuses. Unfortunately, there are more.

Rather than using the law to justify the refusal to release information, government at all levels must approach requests assuming information is public unless it's specifically protected as private. That's the best way to serve the people.