MIDLAND, Mich. — Michigan would become significantly less transparent if a court’s interpretation of the Freedom of Information Act is upheld, according to an appeal brief filed today by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The Center is asking the Michigan Supreme Court to reverse a decision that fundamentally alters the scope of FOIA by putting severe restrictions on how it applies to local government.

The Mackinac Center argues that a February decision from the Michigan Court of Appeals ignores decades of precedent and is clearly inconsistent with the purpose of FOIA. The court ruled that, for local governments, only the public body itself is subject to FOIA. This would eliminate the ability to request the records of the vast majority of local government employees.

The case originally centered around whether curriculum and other materials used in a public school classroom are subject to FOIA. The Mackinac Center is representing Carol Beth Litkouhi, a Rochester parent who was trying to get more information about what was being taught in a History of Ethnic and Gender Studies class. After reaching out to the teacher of the class and then the district, Litkouhi was repeatedly stonewalled. She ended up filing a FOIA request. The request was denied and the district claimed they weren't obligated to ask schools for records.

Both the trial court and the Court of Appeals held that teachers, while employees of a public body, are not public bodies for purposes of FOIA. If the court’s interpretation stands, employees within the public body, including teachers and local government workers at the township, city and county level, would no longer be subject to FOIA. The only public employees who would be subject to FOIA are those within agencies of the state’s executive branch and the elected or appointed members of a local public body when acting on behalf of that public body.

“The purpose of the Freedom of Information Act is to ensure that the public can access information to hold the government accountable,” said Steve Delie, director of transparency and open government at the Mackinac Center. “If this interpretation stands, the scope of what is covered under FOIA becomes drastically limited, hindering the public’s ability to access public records. If this decision is upheld, the Legislature should immediately amend FOIA to ensure that even a modicum of local government transparency survives in Michigan.”

Read more about the case here.

View the brief here.