Transparency Litigation - What Is It?

Open records laws primarily benefit journalists and news organizations. But we see an increasing use of open record statutes by public interest groups, movement groups,. Individuals who are trying to understand what law enforcement is doings. When a journalist uses an open record aw to obtain information, they're just trying to sort of get that information out to the public generally. But when a movement group or an individual or a civil rights organization uses it, they are using this information to advance a particular vision of what accountability ought to be. And that's something that news organizations have historically been very reluctant to do.