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BY
KEVIN DOBBS
Argus Leader
published:
9/24/2002
Almost
half of South Dakota's residents support enacting a Freedom of
Information law, which would provide open access to almost all
government records, a new statewide poll shows.
That's more than twice the number who oppose such a law.
But more than a third are undecided, a strong indication that
many residents are oblivious to government information laws.
"Now that I think about it, I think we should have it, because
we should know what's going on," said Barbra Schulz of Rapid City.
"But to be honest, I didn't even know we didn't have that law."
At the same time, nearly six in 10 people support allowing state
judges to issue gag orders that prohibit people from talking publicly
about certain legal cases.
Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc. randomly
surveyed 800 registered voters from Sept. 16 to Sept. 19 for the
Argus Leader and KSFY. The results have a margin of error of 3.5
percentage points.
Specifically, the poll found that:
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47 percent would support enacting a Freedom of Information
Law, known in other states as a "sunshine law."
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19 percent would oppose it, and 34 percent were undecided.
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Those results were consistent across political party lines.
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58 percent support a judge's ability to issue gag orders, while
only 19 percent oppose it.
The
fact that more than half the state either opposes a sunshine law
or has no solid opinion is a leading reason South Dakota's public-access
laws rated the most restrictive in the nation, according to the
Better Government Association, based in Chicago. The group said
state governments that foster the flow of open information are
typically ones that have responded to public demand.
The watchdog group reviewed state public access laws as part of
a 2001 study, which evaluated states on several factors, including
response time for records requests, available appeals, and penalties
for failing to provide public information.
It cited several reasons for South Dakota's status: Its open-records
laws do not specify all records that must be made available or
a process that a person can follow to request access.
Many of those surveyed for the poll think that should change.
"Openness sheds light on government actions," said Tom Bendorf
of Turton. "It helps to make government more visible and hopefully
more responsive."
Nevertheless, he and more than half the state favor keeping the
law that allows judges to suppress open discussion about court
cases.
David Day, a University of South Dakota law professor, said inconsistent
views of open access to government boil down to the fact that
most people are not aware of which laws the state has to govern
public information - and how they affect residents.
Fidelia Kosola of Newell, one of many who had no opinion on either
the sunshine or gag laws, offered a candid response to support
that thinking.
"I'm just not sure about it," she said. "Really, I'd have to read
up on it before I had an opinion."
Reach reporter Kevin Dobbs at kdobbs@argusleader.com or 977-3924.
©
2002 Copyright Argus Leader.
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