 Madigan told the Illinois Reform Commission the Blagojevich
administration repeatedly refused to release information the public
and the press were legally entitled to under the state's Freedom of
Information Act.
"Former Gov. Blagojevich made secrecy, not sunshine, the default
position of state government," Madigan said.
New Gov.
Pat Quinn created the commission to come up with ways to clean
up Illinois government in the wake of the Blagojevich scandal.
Blagojevich was removed from office last week after being impeached
following his December arrest on federal corruption charges. He has
repeatedly said he did nothing wrong.
Madigan said agencies under Blagojevich "arrogantly" refused to
respond to information requests, and she said agency officers told
the attorney general's office they were directed "from the top" to
deny requests.
While Madigan had created a position to help the public get
access to information, there were limits on how much they could do
because of the state's weak Freedom of Information Act law.
A lawyer who worked in Blagojevich's office did not immediately
return a telephone call Thursday. Blagojevich's publicist did not
immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
[to top of second column] |
Madigan has given suggestions to Quinn about using an executive
order to increase compliance with public records laws. For example,
she said Quinn could designate an attorney within his office to
serve as a senior public information officer to ensure that state
agencies, boards and commissions comply with the law.
The suggestion is being considered but no decision has been made,
said Quinn spokesman Bob Reed.
Madigan has suggested that that senior public information officer
then review all the FOIA request denials during Blagojevich's six
years in office and determine whether that information should be
made public.
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed. |
