Citizen-to-system trust lies at the core of a successful civil society, and yet, as tensions among law enforcement, the government, and Missourians increase, our politicians seek to create even more barriers to transparency between the public and our state institutions. SB 1061 (R – Dixon), HB 2344 (R – Wilson), and HB 2364 (R – Rhoads) epitomize this counterproductive policy effort. These bills write hurdles into Missouri’s Sunshine Law, work against building the trust our community needs to operate smoothly, and possess considerable momentum in the legislative process.
Presently, Missouri’s Sunshine Law provides an avenue through which ordinary Missourians can reasonably gain access to government records. SB 1061 and HB 2344 tighten restrictions on public access to law enforcement video recordings and mobile video recordings respectively, while HB 2364 takes a similarly constraining approach to investigative and incident reports. These bills attempt to roll back the Missouri Sunshine Law and decrease clarity and accountability between Missourians and our law enforcement agencies. As government and law enforcement mistrust reaches a precarious apex, our legislature needs to focus on enhancing rather than obscuring transparency. Ultimately, Missouri lawmakers owe it to their constituents to support legislation that strives to increase both perceptions and realities of safety and reliability in the state of Missouri. ASK your legislator to oppose these harmful bills.
You can find all of your state legislators here: http://www.senate.mo.gov/LegisLookup/default.aspx/leg_lookup.aspx
Sarah Nesbitt, ACLU Public Policy Intern