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Your right to know

Sunshine Week is this week — March 12 to 18 — and it is a time across the nation to talk about and promote the importance of open government and freedom of information on all levels — local, county, state and national.

As an advocate of the First Amendment, it is our duty to inform our readers of their rights as citizens. When it comes to freedom of information, you have more rights than you may realize.

That’s why last year we ran a series titled “Sunshine Series: Your Right to Know,” which is available to read on our website, from a link on our Opinion landing page.

“Your Right to Know” is a publication of New York state’s Committee on Open Government that provides an overview of the Freedom of Information Law, Open Meetings Law and Personal Privacy Protection Law. Today it can be found online as a PDF download on the New York State Department of State website, dos.ny.gov/open-meeting-law.

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In the media, we keep this information handy, in part, so we can keep public officials accountable for their actions. But these rights pertain to all New York state residents, not just journalists.

The Committee on Open Government is responsible for overseeing implementation of the Freedom of Information Law, Open Meetings Law and Personal Privacy Protection Law.

The Freedom of Information Law governs rights of access to government records, while the Open Meetings Law concerns the conduct of meetings of public bodies and the right to attend those meetings.

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