Freedom of information laws and using them effectively are often what separate good reporters from bad ones. Through numerous court decisions and precedents, these laws have been created to help journalists and ensure accountability in our democracy. The Star’s effective use this week of FOI laws to obtain information about a fight that occurred in the Holmes Student Center has inspired a discussion and review of these important provisions.

Campus crime

Campus crime records are accessible to the public due to the Clery Act. It requires schools to provide three types of records: An annual statistical report, a daily campus crime log and “timely reports regarding ongoing crimes that may present a threat to the campus community.”

Open meetings

The openness of meetings varies by state. At the most basic level, freedom of information laws mandate all records generated or meetings conducted by a public body are open to the public unless specifically exempted by law. In Illinois, all student government organizations that are supported by or expend public money or tax revenue are subject to open meetings laws. The Student Association qualifies as such.

Open records

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have open records laws that require all documents and meetings of a public body to be accessible. Common records include executive searches at universities, where only about a dozen courts have ruled. Another is college accreditation reports, which all colleges that participate in federal student loan programs must make available to the public.

Access to places

One should find out if the event is taking place on public-forum public property, like streets; on non-public-forum public property, like government property or on private property. It also is generally a good idea to find out if there is a threat to public safety and what it is. If police have a good reason to fear for the public’s safety, they may have a right to exclude the public from a scene. The First Amendment also will not necessarily protect the public from arrest for trespass if they disobey police orders at a news scene.

The justification for having many records and other information available to the public is simple: the U.S. government belongs to its citizens, and government officials must be held accountable for their actions. This does not always have to fall upon journalists, though often times it does, due to the public’s lack of understanding of these laws. They are, however, one of the ways of ensuring accountability.