January 10, 2000, Monday, METRO EDITION, Pg. A7
CLOSE THE LOOPHOLES IN THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT;
GOVERNMENT SECRECY RUNS COUNTER TO VIRGINIA'S LEGACY
BY BILL KOVARIK
THANK YOU for your Jan. 3 editorial ("A new commitment to government in the sunshine") in which you supported a new office that will help state agencies comply with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Nothing could be closer to the spirit of government that inspired the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776, which said in part:
"That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants and at all times amenable to them."
It has been Virginia's long-standing disgrace that secret government and a brazenly public-be-damned attitude has festered in the shadow of our rich legacy of freedom.
Creating a "sunshine office" is a good start, but there are still enormous loopholes built into existing state law. One loophole involves access to law-enforcement records.
Here's a good example of how things go wrong. Last fall, an on-duty Radford city police officer ran over and severely injured a Radford University student. I wrote the state police asking for a copy of their report on this incident under the FOIA. I was hoping to help student journalists clear up an apparent conflict between the officer's story and the state police report.
But the request was denied since the law (Section 46.2-380) says that anyone involved in an accident, and his or her attorney or insurance company is allowed a copy of the accident report.
That's right. The law says if you're involved, you are entitled to a copy of the report. It actually doesn't say that if you're not involved, you aren't entitled. And it certainly doesn't say that what the police do is none of the public's business.
It's worth noting that another part of the state code, the FOIA itself (especially Section 2.1-341) says: "The affairs of government are not intended to be conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy ..." and that the FOIA "shall be liberally construed to promote an increased awareness by all persons of governmental activities and afford every opportunity to citizens to witness the operations of government."
These noble sentiments have been deeply undermined by contradictions in the law, which need to be corrected. Last year, a state survey found that requests for information about incidents involving police were appropriately answered by only 14 percent of the state's police jurisdictions.
Clearly, a "sunshine office" is only the first step in making our "trustees and servants" amenable in the sense originally envisioned in 1776.
BILL KOVARIK is associate professor in the Department of Media Studies at Radford University.