Government in the Sunshine Act
Encyclopedia
The Government in the Sunshine Act is a US law
passed in 1976 which affects the operations of the federal government, Congress, Federal Commissions, and other legally constituted federal bodies. It is one of a number of Freedom of Information
Acts, intended to create greater transparency in government
.
, Inc., v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
, 216 F.3d 1180, 1182 (D.C. Cir. 2000).
The statute defines "agency" to include "any agency ... headed by a collegial body composed of two or more individual members ... and any subdivision thereof authorized to act on behalf of the agency." 552b(a)(1).
The Sunshine Act enumerates 10 specific exemptions for categories of information that need not be disclosed, including:
of the Act is as follows:
"The basic premise of the sunshine legislation is that, in the words of federalist
No. 49
, 'the people are the only legitimate foundation of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter ... is derived.' Government is and should be the servant of the people, and it should be fully accountable to them for the actions which it supposedly takes on their behalf." (U.S.C.C.A.N. 2183, 2186).
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
passed in 1976 which affects the operations of the federal government, Congress, Federal Commissions, and other legally constituted federal bodies. It is one of a number of Freedom of Information
Freedom of information
Freedom of information refers to the protection of the right to freedom of expression with regards to the Internet and information technology . Freedom of information may also concern censorship in an information technology context, i.e...
Acts, intended to create greater transparency in government
Open government
Open government is the governing doctrine which holds that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight. In its broadest construction it opposes reason of state and racist considerations, which have tended to legitimize...
.
Effect
"The Sunshine Act provides, with ten specified exemptions, that 'every portion of every meeting of an agency shall be open to public observation.' 5 U.S.C. 552b(b) It imposes procedural requirements to ensure, inter alia [among other things], that advance notice is given to the public before agency meetings take place. It also imposes procedural requirements an agency must follow before determining that one of the ten exemptions from the openness requirement applies. However, neither the openness requirement, nor the related procedural requirements, are triggered unless the governmental entity at issue is an "agency," and unless the gathering in question is a 'meeting' of the agency." Natural Resources Defense CouncilNatural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing...
, Inc., v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
, 216 F.3d 1180, 1182 (D.C. Cir. 2000).
Definitions and exceptions
The statute defines a "meeting" as "the deliberations of at least the number of individual agency members required to take action on behalf of the agency where such deliberations determine or result in the joint conduct or disposition of official agency business." 552b(a)(2).The statute defines "agency" to include "any agency ... headed by a collegial body composed of two or more individual members ... and any subdivision thereof authorized to act on behalf of the agency." 552b(a)(1).
The Sunshine Act enumerates 10 specific exemptions for categories of information that need not be disclosed, including:
- information relating to national defense,
- related solely to internal personnel rules and practices,
- related to accusing a person of a crime,
- related to information where disclosure would constitute a breach of privacy,
- related to investigatory records where the information would harm the proceedings,
- related to information which would lead to financial speculation or endanger the stability of any financial institution, and
- related to the agency's participation in legal proceedings.
Purpose
The legislative intentLegislative intent
In law, the legislative intent of the legislature in enacting legislation may sometimes be considered by the judiciary when interpreting the law...
of the Act is as follows:
"The basic premise of the sunshine legislation is that, in the words of federalist
Federalist Papers
The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles or essays promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. Seventy-seven of the essays were published serially in The Independent Journal and The New York Packet between October 1787 and August 1788...
No. 49
Federalist No. 49
Federalist No. 49 is an essay by James Madison, the forty-ninth of the Federalist Papers. It was published on February 2, 1788 under the pseudonym "Publius", the name under which all the Federalist Papers were published. This paper explains how the proposed United States Constitution will prevent...
, 'the people are the only legitimate foundation of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter ... is derived.' Government is and should be the servant of the people, and it should be fully accountable to them for the actions which it supposedly takes on their behalf." (U.S.C.C.A.N. 2183, 2186).
External links
- Government in the Sunshine Act (5 U. S. C. 552b)
- Information about Government in the Sunshine Act on everything2Everything2Everything2, Everything2, or E2 for short is a collaborative Web-based community consisting of a database of interlinked user-submitted written material. E2 is moderated for quality, but has no formal policy on subject matter...