Don’t Look For Loopholes In Order To Hide Secrets

To the Editor:

There are certainly situations where public documents and sensitive materials should be kept confidential. But Texas law says these situations should be rare.

The first sentence of Chapter 552 (Public Information) of the Texas Government Code states:

“Under the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government that adheres to the principle that government is the servant and not the master of the people, it is the policy of this state that each person is entitled, unless otherwise expressly provided by law, at all times to complete information about the affairs of government and the official acts of public officials and employees. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”

That seems quite clear. But just in case some public official or their lawyer has doubts, the law adds another sentence:

“The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to implement this policy.”

And a third:

“This chapter shall be liberally construed in favor of granting a request for information.”

This is not some journalist’s opinion about how things “should” be. It is the law.

All too often, government employees at every level try to find a loophole.

The law says government employees don’t get to decide “what is good for the people to know.” They don’t have to like this law, but they do have to obey it.

Larry Jackson

La Grange