Government Transparency: The Last Nonpartisan Issue We Still Pretend to Care About

We all demand it, but when the curtains are drawn, who's actually letting the light in? A lawyer's firsthand look at a broken system.

For all the venom and polarization in American politics, there’s one topic everyone still claims to agree on: government transparency. It’s the political equivalent of a free sample—everyone wants one. Both parties invoke its virtues on the campaign trail. Every newly elected official promises an "unprecedented level of openness." Watchdog groups build their entire missions around demanding it.

But here’s the corrosive secret we all feel but rarely name: government transparency has become a rhetorical accessory, not a functional practice. It's a shiny lapel pin worn to signal virtue, polished right before the wearer walks into a soundproof, smoke-filled room. We've mastered the language of openness while perfecting the architecture of obscurity.

The 'Sunshine Law' Charade: A Masterclass in Delay and Denial

The bedrock of transparency is the public's right to access government records. This is enshrined in laws like the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) at the federal level and various "Sunshine Laws" or "Right-to-Know" laws at the state level. In theory, these are powerful tools for citizens and journalists to see what their government is actually doing.

In practice, they are often a bureaucratic joke.

Consider the standard playbook. A journalist or concerned citizen files a perfectly legitimate public records request. What happens next is a masterclass in stonewalling:

• The Endless Delay: The agency acknowledges the request and then uses every legally permissible extension, often claiming the request is "unduly burdensome."
• The Black-Ink Binge: When documents finally arrive—months or even years later—they are so heavily redacted they look like classified spy cables. Entire pages are blacked out, rendering them utterly useless.
• The Prohibitive Cost: Some agencies charge exorbitant fees for "searching" and "copying," effectively pricing regular citizens out of their own public information.

By the time any meaningful information is pried loose, the story is stale, the election is over, and the damage is done. The system isn’t broken; it's working exactly as those in power want it to. It's designed to exhaust you into giving up. The Sunshine Law is supposed to be a window, but it's been painted opaque.

Where Accountability Goes to Die

This isn't just about boring paperwork. The failure of transparency has life-and-death consequences. Nowhere is this clearer than in the realm of police accountability. When an officer is accused of misconduct, the public is almost immediately met with a familiar shield: "We cannot comment on an ongoing investigation."

That "ongoing investigation" can stretch on indefinitely, a convenient black hole where body camera footage, disciplinary records, and witness statements disappear from public view. By the time a conclusion is reached—often behind closed doors—public outrage has faded, and the officer in question may have quietly resigned or moved to another department. Accountability exists on paper, but impunity reigns in practice.

And this isn't just a police issue. It happens at every level. Local governments, where cronyism and petty corruption often flourish, fly almost completely under the radar. With the decline of local newspapers, there’s no one left with the time or resources to sit through zoning board meetings or scrutinize municipal contracts. This is the fertile ground where trust in government goes to die—not with a bang, but with a quietly approved, no-bid contract for the mayor's brother-in-law.

Wanted: The 'Sunshine Firecracker'

In this environment of performative transparency, we need more than just watchdogs. We need what I call the Sunshine Firecracker. This is the citizen, activist, or lawyer who doesn't just file a request and wait. They are the ones who treat the law not as a polite suggestion, but as a weapon for accountability.

A Sunshine Firecracker is the person who follows up an ignored request with a lawsuit. They are the ones who stand up at a town hall meeting and read the text of the sunshine law out loud to a smirking council. They use the system's own rules to create loud, uncomfortable, and impossible-to-ignore demands for light. They understand that transparency isn't given; it's taken.

The irony is that this fight shouldn't be so partisan. Conservatives who decry government overreach, liberals who fear the abuse of power, libertarians who champion individual liberty, and progressives who demand social justice can all agree that sunlight is the ultimate disinfectant. The principle that those who wield public power should be subject to public scrutiny is perhaps the last truly shared value in American civic life.

And yet, here we are.

As a lawyer who has fought these battles firsthand, I can tell you that without enforceable transparency, the "rule of law" is nothing more than a marketing phrase. It’s a slogan used by the very people who count on the public never getting to see how the rules are actually applied.

This brings us to the real question. If this is the last nonpartisan issue left, why are we all—citizens, journalists, and politicians alike—still just pretending to care?

Actual transparency would require more than promises. It would require laws with teeth: steep, automatic financial penalties for agencies that illegally delay or deny records. It would demand truly independent oversight boards with the power to subpoena and sanction. It would mean funding, not gutting, local journalism. Most of all, it would require a cultural shift from a "need-to-know" bureaucracy to a "right-to-know" democracy.

Until then, we’re just living in the shadow of a promise, waiting for a Sunshine Firecracker to finally light up the dark.