Editor's Note: Transparency Guardians to the Rescue

Abstract

Editor David Cuillier highlights the importance of alternative enforcement mechanisms of public record laws so average people don't have to hire a lawyer and go to court to guarantee their right to know. Research published in this issue that focuses on Ohio's court of claims system is compared to mechanisms in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Cuillier urges all states (and the U.S. federal government) to consider incorporating independent oversight agencies to help enforce the laws, just as more than 50 nations have implemented.