Sunshine laws are laws that require federal, state, and local government agencies to conduct their meetings as openly as possible. These laws permit the public to attend various government meetings. By opening meetings to “let the sunshine in,” the laws help discourage secrecy in government.
Sunshine laws originated in 1905, when the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the public could attend city and town government meetings in that state. In 1953, California and New Mexico passed the first state sunshine laws. The problem of secrecy in government reached a height during the Watergate scandal of the 1970’s (see Watergate ). By 1977, all the states had passed sunshine laws. The federal government, through the “Government in the Sunshine Act” of 1976, opened meetings of many agencies to the public.
Sunshine laws vary widely. Some require government agencies to admit the public to almost all their meetings. Others allow preliminary meetings to be closed if the final vote on an issue is held in open session. Many sunshine laws also permit closed meetings on certain topics, such as personnel matters and real estate purchases.
