OPEN RECORDS PREVENT A POLICE STATE

@body:Every excess and abuse you've read here happened with a strong public-records statute on the books. Clearly, the "sunshine laws" are not a deterrent to unethical cops. However, when journalists and citizens insist upon learning the truth, the paperwork trail provides answers to the most fundamental questions.

I do not trust writers who use terms like fascist, or who compare every civil liberties threat to Germany in the 30s. But there is a chilling scene in the book Schindler's List that describes what happens in a society that does not have access to its own paperwork.

In the autumn of 1942, members of the Jewish underground based in Istanbul sent out boxes of postcards to Zionists who lived in occupied Europe. The cards inquired about the recipient's welfare and asked for a reply. Only a single response made its way back to Turkey. The authorities controlled all of the records.

The files and reports kept by law enforcement buttress a free society. The paperwork belongs to all of us every bit as much as it belongs to the prosecutor with a subpoena and the officer with a badge.