Your Right to Know

Limit privacy protections for police

Law enforcement officers in Winnebago County shot three people in 2023, one fatally. And while we know the names of the people shot, the identities of those who pulled the trigger remain secret.

Larry Gallup, Your Right to Know, open records

Protect the rights of student journalists

About a year ago, Simon Mehring came home from a high school journalism conference with an idea. Mehring, now a junior at Stoughton High School, had learned about an Illinois law that protects student media from censorship. He also found out that Wisconsin doesn’t have such a law.

Reopening court discussions was a good idea

On Oct. 9, 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held a lively, 35-minute discussion on whether to allow the deletion of certain eviction records from Wisconsin’s online court records system.

bill lueders

Protect the press against bogus lawsuits

Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a nonpartisan group dedicated to open government.

bill lueders

Record delays are contrary to the law

In early April, I requested some records from the Madison Police Department regarding what it said was the sole disciplinary action taken against an MPD officer or employee in the first three months of this year.

Your Right to Know: Records case a win for public accountability

When Madison Metropolitan School District communications director Tim LeMonds sued his employer in March to block release of a complaint against him, he claimed there would be grave repercussions if the public were allowed to see the allegations it contained.

Beth Bennett

Bill to fix records problem deserves support

A unanimous voice vote by the Wisconsin Senate on a piece of legislation is a rare occurrence. But that’s what happened on April 19, when state senators approved a bill to undo a decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court regarding public records.

Your Right to Know: End Wisconsin’s secretive ‘pocket veto’

Members of the state legislature's powerful budget committee often impede projects or programs they don't like by sidestepping state law in order to exercise a secretive "pocket veto," Wisconsin Watch recently revealed.

In his 2023-25 budget, Gov. Tony Evers is proposing to do away with this process when it comes to conservation and recreational projects paid for by stewardship funds. But GOP lawmakers have already vowed to rip up the document and start over, leaving little chance the Legislature will adopt Evers’ idea, Dee J. Hall writes in the most recent "Your Right to Know" column from the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.

Wisconsin Newspaper Association