Two weeks ago, I discussed how during the last general and special sessions of the Arkansas Legislature, some legislators lauded their proposals to weaken Arkansas' Freedom of Information Act, proclaiming the virtue of making Arkansas' FOIA more like the federal analog.

I highlighted that Arkansans don't want to look to the federal government for guidance on transparency--or anything else, for that matter. And in that column, I examined two problems with the federal FOIA: 1. it allows bureaucrats too much leeway in delaying responding to citizens' record requests, and 2. it exempts from disclosure documents showing the thinking of government decision-makers in setting policy under the so-called deliberative-process privilege.

Today, I expose yet another weakness of the federal FOIA: the ability of federal bureaucrats to withhold records whenever an agency pursues an enforcement action, irrespective of whether it's a civil or criminal issue. This federal FOIA exemption intersected with the archetype of official overreaching right here in Arkansas to create the poster child of why we don't look to the feds for guidance on good government.

About a month ago, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued two violations to an Arkansas cement company. The first infraction was because waste-paper baskets in bathrooms didn't have lids. (Really?)

Because OSHA didn't assess a fine, however, I would've had no significant fodder for a........

© El Dorado News Times