Citizen Advocacy Center
  • Home
  • FAQ
  • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Internships
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Council
    • Founder
    • Citizen Initiative Awards
  • Core Activities
    • Answering Questions of Public Concern
    • Education, Training, & Resources
    • Monitoring Government Activity
    • Advocacy to Strengthen Laws & Institutions
  • Events
  • Library
    • e-Newsletters
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Citizen Guides
    • Policy Reports >
      • Good Government Research Studies
      • Survey of Government Regulations on Public Assembly in DuPage Municipalities
      • Midwest Open Government Project
      • Right to Speak Report
      • Sexual Harassment Policy Survey
    • Databases >
      • Public Access Counselor Determination Letter Index
    • CAC News
    • Annual Reports
  • Act
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Internship Opportunities
    • Legal Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • THANK YOU!

Follow our blog here.

Public Bodies Punish Civic Participants

12/19/2011

 
On August 26th, 2011, Governor Quinn approved a new bill that adds a new category to the Freedom of Information Act. The bill "establishes procedures that public bodies are to use in responding to requests from recurrent requesters."*

A recurrent requestor is a person that submits a request to the same public body "a minimum of 50 requests for records, a minimum of 15 requests for records within a 30-day period, or a minimum of 7 requests for records within a 7-day period"*, all within 12 months. 

Less than one month after Governor Quinn signed the ‘Recurrent Requester’ provision of FOIA, public bodies are invoking it to punish civic participants, as shown in this letter. They combined the number of requests of a husband and wife to say that they are recurrent requesters, and denied their FOIA request. 

What is your opinion on this?

Illinois and the Case for Open Redistricting

12/15/2011

 
By Maryam Judar

Redistricting and the Illinois experience are illustrative of why the people clamor for transparency, and how public officials cynically use transparency to gain advantage. The clamor is easy to explain: Fair redistricting practices drive competition at the ballot. Competition is central to our nation’s democracy: robust debate is a foundational value of our political system. A lack of competitive views reflected on the ballot reduces voters’ choices. The lack of meaningful choice on ballots is a common complaint by voters. Revised redistricting procedures that benefit the public rather than elected officials may ameliorate the public’s frustration with lack of candidate choice, and it may spur more people to vote.

These days the term “transparency” is bandied about at all levels of our government. Some of the clamor comes from the citizenry who are anxious about the activities of their governments and need a means of holding them accountable; and while some public officials jump on the transparency bandwagon and trumpet its virtues in hopes of using it as a political vehicle to gain advantage, others sincerely believe in transparency’s importance and join the discussion. Transparency, while having little-examined benefits for government officials and employees, ultimately protects the people from government mismanagement and unethical behavior. In the national and state-wide debates, the importance of transparency is best told by stories that exemplify what is at stake for all members of the public, and from the public’s perspective. 

Read the entire blog here: http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2011/09/01/illinois-and-the-case-for-open-redistricting/

    RSS Feed

    2023.3.20._right_to_speak_pac_determination_let.pdf
    File Size: 218 kb
    File Type: pdf
    Download File

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    April 2020
    May 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    December 2011

    Categories

    All
    Andrea Alvarez
    CAC In The News
    Campaign Finance
    Chicago
    Citizen Advocacy Center
    Civic Education
    Civic Education
    Economic Development
    Elections
    Elmhurst
    Ethics/Corruption
    Events
    First Amendment
    First Amendment
    Freedom Of Information FOIA
    Freedom Of Information - FOIA
    Home Rule
    Illinois Legislation
    Intern Program
    Letter To The Editor
    Letter To The Editor
    Maryam Judar
    Open Meetings Act
    Redistricting
    Terry Pastika
    TIF
    Transparency & Accountability
    Voting / Election
    Whistleblower
    Zoning & Land Use

DONATE
Citizen Advocacy Center    
​
188 W Industrial Drive, Suite 106   Elmhurst, IL 60126-1600   
Phone: (630) 833-4080  Fax: (630) 833-4083
 ​© 2023 All Rights Reserved.       PRIVACY POLICY        LEGAL DISCLAIMER      CONTACT A COMMUNITY LAWYER
  • Home
  • FAQ
  • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Internships
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Council
    • Founder
    • Citizen Initiative Awards
  • Core Activities
    • Answering Questions of Public Concern
    • Education, Training, & Resources
    • Monitoring Government Activity
    • Advocacy to Strengthen Laws & Institutions
  • Events
  • Library
    • e-Newsletters
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Citizen Guides
    • Policy Reports >
      • Good Government Research Studies
      • Survey of Government Regulations on Public Assembly in DuPage Municipalities
      • Midwest Open Government Project
      • Right to Speak Report
      • Sexual Harassment Policy Survey
    • Databases >
      • Public Access Counselor Determination Letter Index
    • CAC News
    • Annual Reports
  • Act
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Internship Opportunities
    • Legal Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • THANK YOU!