Eagle-Tribune: Open meeting law needs teeth

Massachusetts needs a stronger open meeting law, says Eagle-Tribune Editor-in-Chief William Ketter in an opinion piece published yesterday, Strengthen the Public's Right to Know About Local Government. Wrote Ketter:

"It makes sense ... to take action against those officials who deliberately disregard your right to know. And 40 states do impose civil or criminal penalties for violating open meeting laws.

"Not in Massachusetts. Here, there's hardly any punishment for meeting unlawfully in secret, away from the people and the press."

(The piece includes a quote from me speaking to a recent gathering of state legislators.)