Heather Murray, Associate Director of the Cornell First Amendment Clinic and Managing Attorney of its Local Journalism Project, took part in two Sunshine Week events in Pennsylvania last week. Sunshine Week, held annually in March, is a nationwide observance that emphasizes the importance of open government, public records, and freedom of information. Organized by the Brechner Freedom of Information Project, it gathers journalists, civic groups and citizens to promote government transparency and accountability.
On March 18, the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment brought together journalists and lawyers at Penn State for an event called “Sunlight in Happy Valley: Confronting Penn State’s Transparency Gap.” A panel of journalists discussed the difficulties covering the university. During the event, the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association awarded Terry Mutchler the Advocate of the Year award. Mutchler, chair of Philadelphia-based Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP’s Transparency and Public Data Practice, is a former journalist and the first executive director of Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records.
Murray, joining a panel of attorneys after the journalists, addressed issues of transparency that have plagued Penn State over the years, as well as the Spotlight PA lawsuit against the university.
On March 19, Murray joined a Right to Know Law panel at Point Park University Center for Media Innovation in Pittsburgh. The event, hosted by the Pennsylvania Bar Association and sponsored by Del Sole Cavanaugh Stroyd LLC, was titled “From Requests to Appeals: A Sunshine Week Right to Know Law Program.” Moderated by Paula Knudsen Burke at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the panel also included Judge Daniel D. Regan, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, and Zachary Gordon, Del Sole Cavanaugh Stroyd LLC. Panelists discussed the basics of the RTKL and the RTKL appeals process in Allegheny County.