REMARKS OF

MITCHELL W. PEARLMAN

30^TH FOI ANNIVERSARY DINNER

MARCH 15, 2005

Since I’ve worked for the commission essentially since its inception, I’m often asked what have been the most important cases or issues that have come before us. Quite frankly, I think there’s no way one can choose the top 10 cases, or the top 100 cases, or even the top 1,000 cases.

Like art, importance is in the eye of the beholder. And who am I to say that cases dealing with the execution of the death penalty, or the impeachment of a governor, are more important than cases requesting information about the placement of high voltage lines near a school, or requesting traffic studies for a residential neighborhood?

What I’d like to offer tonight then is my perspective of the major themes, or phases, in the FOI experience in Connecticut over the past 30 years. In general, these themes probably apply to the FOI experience in other places as well.

The first phase was the start-up. It’s one thing to pass a law. It’s another thing to implement it, and implement it effectively. This phase took place from 1975-1980, although we continue to work on improving implementation all the time.

The second phase started in 1980 when we lost our first case in court. This phase can be characterized as a counterattack against an expansive reading of the FOI Act. Rather than concentrate on expanding citizen rights, government and the courts began expanding the exceptions to public disclosure.

For example, towns created so-called "committees" to hide what they were doing, and claimed such groups were not public agencies covered by the law. Boards and commissions met behind closed doors, with their attorneys present, to discuss policy matters, and claimed the discussions were confidential under the attorney-client privilege. And access to the performance records of even high-level officials was denied on the ground that disclosure would be an invasion of privacy.

The expansion of the exceptions to disclosure – and particularly privacy-based exceptions -- was the prevalent theme in Connecticut from about 1980-1990, although the problem is a continual one.

The 1990s ushered in the "information age." That decade saw the wide-spread use of computer databases to store, retrieve and analyze government records.

Obviously no one could foresee many of the public policy issues of electronic records when our Freedom of Information laws were first enacted. So a major theme during the 1990s was how to integrate this new technology into our essentially manual system of open government. We had to consider what constituted electronic public records. We had to consider fee structures for those records. And we had to reconsider privacy laws that were based on the "practical obscurity" of manual records in a new context in which it’s easy to acquire vast quantities of information about individuals from any number of sources.

The new century has brought its own challenges. Chief among the new themes are the obsession with national security and the FOI implications of the global information society in which we now live.

Almost immediately after the 9/11 attacks, governments at all levels began to shut down access to information. Important public health, environmental and safety information on government websites was no longer posted. For some reason, it became a security risk to publicly disclose the location of reservoirs, although one could easily acquire maps showing their location -- and no one bothered to take down local street signs identifying "Reservoir Road." Obviously, we must somehow strike a more appropriate balance between legitimate security concerns and the public’s right to know. Otherwise we’ll ultimately face the demise of our free society.

In a more positive vein, the "information age," has led to a "global information society." Today, information is a trade commodity – perhaps the most valuable trade commodity there is. Through relatively inexpensive technology, information can be shared almost instantaneously anywhere in the world. The implications of this phenomenon are profound.

Third World countries, even those with few natural resources, can develop more rapidly, creating economic and educational opportunities for their people unimaginable even a decade ago. Knowledge about diseases and medicine -- among many other things -- can be shared, and remedies applied more effectively. And along with such knowledge, and the advances they bring, come the opportunity for more open and democratic societies; and, hopefully, a better chance for world peace.

Government information from many sources and many places -- whether from geographic information systems or from institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control -- form a strong core of our "global information society." A Connecticut company is just as likely to want demographic information for a market study of another state or country as a company from another state or country is likely to want such information about Connecticut. And advances in AIDS or SARS research in the United States can help stop a pandemic everywhere.

As the saying goes, it’s a small world. And Freedom of Information is going to play an increasingly big part in it.

I’m proud of the contributions Connecticut has made during the last 30 years. I’m confident that Connecticut’s leadership will continue under a new generation of extraordinarily talented and dedicated people, such as Aaron Bayer, Janet Manko, Dana Whalen, Dan Klau, Eric Turner, and my dearest colleague – and hopefully my successor – Colleen Murphy.

Thank you.