Court rules NCAA documents in FSU academic-fraud investigation are public records

TALLAHASSEE - A Leon County judge ordered today that NCAA documents related to an academic-fraud investigation at Florida State University are public records, a major victory for press groups that pushed for the release of the information.

At issue are the transcript of an October 2008 hearing in Indianapolis, attended by FSU President T.K. Wetherell, in which FSU and NCAA officials discussed the case involving 61 student-athletes who cheated, many in an online music class. The transcripts are expected to be 300 to 350 pages long, according to lawyers representing news organizations including the Orlando Sentinel and The Associated Press.

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Public Records? Who Says So?

Getting everyone to sing from the same sheet of music is a pesky business, it doesn’t matter if it is a small family, a community, or an entire state. Obviously the more people involved, the more difficult the task.

The task is made more arduous when we are dealing with laws, because few of us have law degrees. It is worth a moment of our time to understand the basics of a new law recently passed in New Jersey, because this law deals with a fundamental issue currently coming into question in our democracy: Who is in charge, the citizens, or the people who run government?

Obviously, we know from our history books, the power resides with the citizens, but nothing stays the same, and things not exercised wither away. One of the things withering away is the understanding, both on the part of citizens and public officials alike that public records are in fact “public” records, and with rare exception are open to anybody who wishes to see them for any reason, stated or unstated.

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Once a Public Record, Always a Public Record... Or Not

State legislators have a longtime practice of going back and expunging controversial votes.

If state legislators hope one day to rebuild the public's shaken confidence in their institution, they could start by ending their practice of erasing controversial votes from the public record.

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Attorneys join Wisconsin Rapids teachers' e-mail legal battle

Four attorneys who represent employees from two of the state's largest cities have become involved in a Wisconsin Rapids School District lawsuit involving teacher e-mails.

Lawyers from Milwaukee and Madison have sided with the five Wisconsin Rapids teachers who are arguing that personal e-mails from their work computers are not public records that should be open to scrutiny.

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