Citizens for Sunshine
Citizens for Sunshine is a nonprofit organization based in Akron, Ohio that seeks to improve compliance with Ohio's Public Records Act.{{cite web | title = Policy and News Updates for February 12, 2008 | publisher = OpenTheGovernment.org | date = February 12, 2008 | url = http://www.openthegovernment.org/article/articleview/301/1/111/?TopicID= | accessdate = January 23, 2009 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
The organization was started in 2007 by a former newspaper reporter with a passion for public records who began filing pro se lawsuits against police departments and other public offices who refused to release records he had requested.{{cite news|first=Szucs |last=Stephen |title=Man sues agencies over public records |url=http://www.chroniclet.com/2008/03/01/man-sues-agencies-over-public-records_122/ |work=The Chronicle-Telegram |location=Elyria, Ohio |date=March 1, 2008 |accessdate=January 23, 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202165416/http://www.chroniclet.com/2008/03/01/man-sues-agencies-over-public-records_122/ |archivedate=December 2, 2008 }} Although most of the cases are settled out of court, at least one has resulted in a ruling from the Ohio Court of Appeals, which found that the police and law department in Rocky River, Ohio, had clearly violated state law when they refused to make records available to him.{{cite news | first = Sara | last = Macho | title = Court rules that Rocky River violated Public Records Act | url = http://www.cleveland.com/westshoresun/news/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1235666264266790.xml&coll=3 | work = West Shore Sun | publisher = Sun News | location = Bay Village, Ohio | date = 2009-02-26 | accessdate = 2009-09-26 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110607140937/http://www.cleveland.com/westshoresun/news/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews-0%2F1235666264266790.xml&coll=3 | archive-date = 2011-06-07 | url-status = dead }}
Most notably, the suits included a lawsuit against Marc Dann, then the attorney general of Ohio,{{cite news | title = Citizens for Sunshine | url = http://videos.ohio.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1862862&genre_id=3068 | work = Ohio.com | accessdate = January 23, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110901113513/http://videos.ohio.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1862862&genre_id=3068 | archive-date = September 1, 2011 | url-status = dead }} for access to e-mails between Dann and his scheduler, with whom he was believed to be carrying on an extramarital affair.{{cite news | last = Willard | first = Dennis |author2=Warsmith, Stephanie | date = May 14, 2008 | work = Akron Beacon Journal | publisher = Black Press | title=Attorney General Dann resigns |url=http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/18949999.html | accessdate = 2008-05-17}}