Why Does Texas’ Highest Criminal Court Want State Government to Be More Secret?

Texas’ highest criminal court has added another dangerous layer to the cloak of secrecy around how some government officials want to conduct our business.We say “our” because we elect these officials to be good stewards of our tax dollars and to represent us on issues that affect our communities. For the sake of accountability, the public has a right to know what our representatives are doing.We’re concerned that a ruling last week from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will keep us in the dark. The court dealt a major blow to transparency when it struck down a portion of the open meetings law that makes it a crime for officials to circumvent quorum rules to hold “secret deliberations."The court’s wrong-headed ruling called the provision “unconstitutionally vague.” We see it as another excuse for government bodies to usurp the spirit of this important law.  Continue reading...