Port Charlotte Sun Herald

Floridians enjoy some of the most liberal open record laws in America, a fact we should be both proud of and thankful for.

Open record laws, of course, allow public access to all sorts of information, from reports on doctors and pharmacists to driving and accident records. They also require our elected officials to vote and do business in the sunshine so we are all aware of any laws, regulations or taxes that affect our daily lives. These laws are collectively known as the Sunshine Law.

Perhaps the best way to appreciate our sunshine laws is to imagine what life would be like without them.

Suppose your county commission or city council were able to meet in private, voting on policy and ordinances without the public being aware? One day you open the mail and find your taxes have doubled. Or, maybe someone tickets your automobile for parking in the street in front of your house – a violation you later discover was put into law during a recent commission meeting.

What if you had no way to verify an accident report for your auto insurance company or no information on the location of sexual predators?

Imagine how you would select a candidate if, on the eve of an election, you had no idea how he/she had voted. You might only have their word — not how they voted — on whether they were pro-life, liberal, conservative, anti-tax or in favor of strengthening speed restrictions on the Peace River for boaters.

What if you were trying to select a doctor and were unable to find any public records to indicate if that physician had ever been sued for malpractice?

How would we feel if we discovered our lawmakers were financing education or highway construction with loans at an unusually high interest rate — loans that would come due about the time we planned to retire? Would we be concerned or offended if we found out key government jobs were being filled by friends or relatives of legislators — at salaries double that of the previous employee?

Imagine our reaction if, in a secret meeting, the government decided it would be in the best interest of the nation if we all were fingerprinted and forced to submit to personal interviews to weed out terrorists. Or, what if the government voted to put video cameras in our churches and convention halls to monitor meetings for anti-government sentiments?

These are all extreme examples. But there would be nothing to stop our government from behaving this way if there was no accountability, no public scrutiny and no way for Floridians to obtain information that is now readily available.

Each year our legislators consider dozens of laws that would restrict the right to obtain information or monitor public and government agencies. Rarely are these laws in the best interests of the public.

We must send a message to lawmakers that we cherish our sunshine laws. Make it a loud message.