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"Honest people are now compelled to become scofflaws in the good-faith pursuit of their duties."
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We’ve seen the unintended consequences of overzealous reform before. The current obsession with transparency is starting to take a similar toll. In a host of ways, government has been rendered less nimble, less talented and less effective. Honest people are now compelled to become scofflaws in the good-faith pursuit of their duties. Under “open meeting” requirements forbidding members of governing bodies to confer privately, the result is furtive hallway conversations or “executive committee” meetings where the discussion might not technically fall into the category of exemptions that permit such meetings. Open-records laws have had the same effect. Government took a serious wrong turn at the dawn of the email era when somebody decided that these online exchanges are “documents.” Every emailer knows that, perhaps apart from attachments, they are conversations. In sarcastic moments, I sometimes point out the gaping loophole in our public-records laws: Public officials are talking on the phone, and we don’t know what they’re saying!
Mitch Daniels, The Washington Post
Americans of every description and political philosophy, across generations, have zealously guarded our rights as enumerated in the First Amendment and the amendments that follow. All of us are constitutional republicans. We understand the freedoms that make us Americans. Those rights remain remarkably strong today, and we defend them with great passion because they are real and personal and part of our daily lives. The Constitution strengthens everyone by limiting the power of those who govern. The nation relies on a free press to help enforce those limits, and it is working today — though the process is sometimes ugly, and almost always messy. It is designed to foment turmoil and debate — and it has from the beginning.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Press freedom has seen dark days before. We all know about President Richard Nixon and his attempts to use government agencies against perceived media “enemies.” Woodrow Wilson, in his determination to save democracy during World War I, threatened one of its pillars through widespread suppression of the press. The list goes on, even to Barack Obama, who has been criticized for undermining reporters’ rights to protect their sources as he fought to stop leaks. Fortunately, the checks and balances of our system usually prevail.
The Virginian-Pilot
Imagine if your daughter has been wrongfully convicted of murder, and no one cares. Your wife died during childbirth, and the experts now blame her medical condition. Or your dad, a decorated military veteran, is rotting in a nursing home, and the owners pay you lip service — because your dad is really a monthly paycheck to them. These are the stories that our journalists quietly expose. Journalism is mission work, an honest cause beyond our eyes.Like nursing, teaching and police work, it’s built on a foundation of accuracy, trust, wisdom and character, not a billy club.
Manny Garcia, News Leader
Perhaps the biggest legal issue raised by the non-disclosure agreement [Pres. Donal Trump has reportedly asked White House staffers to sign] has to do with the First Amendment. Government employees can and do give up certain rights, including some First Amendment rights, when they enter government service. But non-disclosure agreements of this type use vague and threatening language in order to chill and silence speech. Protecting the president from bad press does not warrant such an erosion of the Constitution. But Manigault Newman's ongoing dispute with Trump should not distract from broader issues of speech in the White House. When it comes to government employees, the name of the game is transparency. Absent issues related to classified information, we are entitled to know what public employees are doing.
Jessica A. Levinson, NBC News
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