Stop the gunfire
FacebookTwitterEmail
Michael Greene, left, and Greg Aidala talk while looking at a memorial at the scene of Friday s deadly shooting at First and Quail outside Mr. Sam Food Market on Monday, May 24, 2021 in Albany N.Y. The memorial was put in place to honor longtime store worker, Sharf Addalim, know to locals as David, who was killed after being caught in a drive-by shooting. Aidala, who’s family owns an auto sales business next door and Greene, who lives close to the store, were both at the scene and felt helpless as they witnessed the life leave the body of Addalim. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)Lori Van Buren, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER / Albany Times Union
Editorial: End this abuse of the law
Times Union Editorial Board
FacebookTwitterEmail
For years, public officials have used or, more accurately, abused a provision in the state’s Freedom of Information Law to shield possible criminal wrongdoing in their administrations from public scrutiny.
The law excludes from public disclosure records “compiled for law enforcement purposes” and whose disclosure would interfere with an investigation or court case; deprive a person of a fair trial; or reveal confidential sources or information or criminal investigative techniques or procedures, other than routine ones.
Note that there’s nothing in those exemptions about protecting officials’ images or political careers.