Sunshine Act
NEWS ON OPEN GOVERNMENT ISSUES

School district denies it violated Sunshine Law

August 25, 2010 |
HUGHESVILLE — On Tuesday night, the East Lycoming School District denied it violated the state Sunshine Law regarding what can and can't be discussed in executive session for legal, personnel or student-related purposes, but a media law attorney isn't so sure the district is in the clear. Read More...

Tamaqua board leader denies open meeting law was violated

August 15, 2010 |
During the formation of the Tamaqua school district's recently-adopted mandatory drug and alcohol testing policy for students participating in co-curricular activities, an advisory committee met on a regular basis. A question was raised as to whether the meetings, which were characterized as "closed door" sessions, were in violation of Pennsylvania's Open Meetings law, known as the Sunshine Act. Read More...

Ruling: Highlands violated Sunshine Act

August 06, 2010 |
A three-judge appeals panel ruled Thursday that the Highlands School District violated state law when it held a closed-door session with shopping center representatives last year to talk about a tax assessment appeal. In the order, Commonwealth Judge Patricia A. McCullough wrote that the private meeting with Heights Plaza Shopping Center representatives "has the odor of favoritism that the Sunshine Act does not tolerate."
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Opinion: No legal notice required for reconvened meeting

July 29, 2010 |
Q: A school board meeting ran long and as a result, the board recessed the meeting for one week. Does the Sunshine Act require the school board to place a legal notice in our paper stating the date, time and place of the reconvened meeting? Read More...

Exeter offers no public apology over meeting

July 27, 2010 |
Exeter borough residents hoping for an apology for being locked out of a council meeting April 6 will have to wait at least a little longer. None was given at Tuesday’s meeting of the borough council. Read More...

Expert: Riverside vote violated open-meetings law

July 23, 2010 |
A vote by the Riverside School Board to change the logo displayed on football helmets violated the Pennsylvania open-meeting law, a media-law expert said Thursday. The 5-4 decision, reached after a district employee polled school board members by phone, changed the helmet decals for Riverside Junior-Senior High School football players from a wing to a Viking horn. Read More...

Opinion: Sunshine Act penalties infrequently imposed

July 22, 2010 |
Q: Our newspaper would like to pursue legal action against a local agency for Sunshine Act violations. Are there civil or criminal penalties for violating the act? Read More...

Opinion: Timing of meeting notice matters

June 24, 2010 |
Q: A borough scheduled a special meeting for Friday morning and requested the public notice ad to run in our Thursday edition. We are an afternoon paper and most readers don’t receive the paper until after 4 p.m. Does this create an issue? Read More...

Records panel to heed Sunshine Act

June 22, 2010 |
WILKES-BARRE -- The Luzerne County Record Improvement Committee will begin complying with the state Sunshine Act for the first time and inform the public of upcoming meetings in a legal notice, said county Commissioner Stephen A. Urban, the new chairman of the committee. Read More...

No provision in law for closed-door meetings on security

May 28, 2010 |
If the Twin Valley School Board had gone into a private meeting with a Caernarvon Township police officer to discuss filing civil or criminal charges against a district resident, the meeting may have met the standard established by the Sunshine Act to exclude the public. As it was, the board discussed safety, security and legal measures that could be taken against a disruptive citizen, according to school board solicitor Jon S. Malsnee. Read More...

Newspaper contends Highlands violated state Sunshine Law

April 20, 2010 |
Attorneys for the Valley News Dispatch and Highlands School District argued before a state appeals court yesterday over accusations the school board illegally shut out the public from part of a June meeting. Read More...

Opinion: Public matters can't hide behind law

April 03, 2010 |
Pennsylvania, with its woefully corrupt state Legislature and untold units of local government that also are no strangers to corruption, needs an effective Sunshine Law more so than most other states. Read More...

Stadium Authority meeting criticized

March 31, 2010 |
Pittsburgh's Stadium Authority violated state open-meeting rules when a majority of members spoke privately by phone a day before the authority's first public meeting this year, a media law expert said Tuesday. Read More...

Opinion: Clouding up Sunshine Law

March 22, 2010 |
The "good old boys (and girls)" in Harrisburg are covering each other's butts again. We aren't supposed to notice, because a House-passed bill imposes higher fines for violating the open-meetings "Sunshine Act." That's all we are supposed to notice: Higher fines. But the House, which is in bed with school directors and teacher unions, tacked on a provision allowing secretive closed meetings for "safety and security" reasons.
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Opinion: Bill puts open meetings in peril

March 21, 2010 |
The devil is in the details and, if you're the pessimistic type, you can find Lucifer's fingerprints all over a small item in legislation passed by the state House five days ago. Read More...

Opinion: House passes damaging open meetings bill

March 18, 2010 |
The past few weeks have seen an increase in activity at the Capitol that causes concern. We were discouraged on March 10, when the full House, reviewing a bill intended to strengthen sanctions dished out (theoretically) for violating the Sunshine Act, voted to insert a ‘safety and security’ exemption for going into executive session, for school boards. Read More...

Opinion: Minutes public after next meeting; recordings public when created

February 18, 2010 |
Q: I requested copies of a local agency’s minutes and audio recording from a meeting held in early December, 2009. I was denied on the basis that meeting minutes aren’t public until they have been formally approved, and the audio recording is exempt as a “personal use” record. There have been three meetings since early December. Can the agency deny access to minutes and the audio recording at this point? Read More...

Pennsylvania Sunshine Act: Improvements needed

January 18, 2010 |
The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association's fsummary of improvements needed in Pennsylvania's open meetings law, known as the "Sunshine Act." Read More...

Opinion: Cell phones may be used to record meetings

January 14, 2010 |
Q: I recently attended a public meeting and was told that I could not use my cell phone to record the proceedings because cell phones are not approved by the board as an appropriate recording device and because I didn’t get permission to record in advance. Can the agency do that? Read More...