After Student Government Association President Melissa Westbrook was impeached, the Senate’s LJR committee members investigating her for allegedly breaking Sunshine Law might just be doing the same thing themselves in SGA’s witness interview process.
According to SGA Statutes, the LJR committee can hold its witness interviews in secrecy because they claim they are “fact-finding” meetings. SGA claims no official business is taking place, because they do not vote during the witness interview process. However, the Florida Attorney General’s Sunshine manual casts major doubt on SGA’s stance that these meetings do not violate the Sunshine Law.
According to the Florida Attorney General’s Sunshine manual, Sunshine Law covered bodies like the LJR committee cannot be eligible for the “fact-finding exception”. Citing the case Finch v. Seminole County School Board, the court held that the “fact-finding exception” did not apply to the school board. In the case, members of the the Sunshine Law covered board could not even take a fact-finding bus tour without violating the Sunshine Law, even though no vote was taken during the trip.
Simply put, members of a Sunshine Law covered board like the LJR committee cannot hold the witness interviews in secrecy, even though they are taking steps by saying they are not doing business or taking official votes during the process. According to the Florida Attorney General’s Sunshine manual, since those who are attending the meeting belong to a Sunshine Law covered board, the meeting would be required to be open.
This isn’t the first time that the LJR Committee has faced scrutiny for allegedly violating Sunshine Law. In 2010, impeachment charges were levied against an SGA Senator accused of having a drunken romp on a UCF golf cart.
At the time, an attorney representing KnightNews.com wrote a letter to the then SGA President and Speaker explaining why the secret LJR witness interviews violated Sunshine Law. His sentiments echoed that of the Attorney General’s Sunshine manual and cited the case Rhea v. City of Gainesville which says, “any gathering of the members where the members deal with some matter on which foreseeable action will be taken by the board” must be open.
“It is thus a legal impossibility for two or more members of the Student Senate to serve as members of a non-covered ‘fact-finding’ group,” the KnightNews.com attorney said in the 2010 letter over LJR impeachment hearings.
This time around, SGA President Melissa Westbrook is facing removal from office on three charges–including one on breaking Sunshine Law. Based on the information available, the PRIDE meeting which Westbrook faces removal on wasn’t a meeting of a committee that is Sunshine Law covered, such as the SGA LJR committee.
The Florida Attorney General’s Sunshine manual states that the Sunshine Law applies to meetings of elected or appointed boards and it does not ordinarily apply to staff committees or meetings.
Since it was a random group of people meeting to discuss the PRIDE coalition instead of a specific group of people with decision making power who belong to an SGA Senate committee, it appears unlikely that it would be considered a Sunshine Law covered meeting, according to KnightNews.com’s analysis of information in the Attorney General’s manual.
Moreover, according to SGA statutes, Westbrook is empowered to make a decision about whether or not PRIDE coalition should be suspended on her own, unlike the SGA LJR committee and Senate which must make group decisions.
In the case of Knox v. District School Board of Brevard, the court ruled Sunshine Law does not apply to a group of school board employees, who were not elected officials, meeting with an area superintendent.
“[A] sunshine violation does not occur when a governmental executive uses staff for a fact-finding and advisory function in fulfilling his or her duties,” the case states.
Based on that case, it supports the argument that Westbrook, being a governmental executive, would be able to have a meeting with random people in order to gather facts and ultimately make her decision as to whether the organization is suspended or not.
Looking at the most transparent definition of the law, if Westbrook did in fact break Sunshine Law, it is very hard to say that the LJR committee is not breaking Sunshine Law in their secret witness interviews.
