225 hidden exemptions to South Carolina Freedom of Information exist

Chunks of asphalt have been destroying drivers’ cars on part of I-26 and the Mark Clark Expressway in the Charleston area, according to a story by the Post and Courier’s investigative team.

That team is trying to find out how many claims have been filed with the Department of Transportation (DOT). The reasoning of the journalists: the DOT is a state agency, and those claims should be available under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act (FOI.)

But the DOT won’t release the claims. Their reasoning: they’re taking the claims as a request from their lawyer, so the information falls under attorney-client privilege.

Organizations like the South Carolina Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Project Sunshine are in place to help journalists who encounter resistance to FOI requests.

Bill Rogers, executive director for the S.C. Press Association, said the claims should be public record.

"The money and number of claims has nothing to do with attorney-client privilege," Rogers said on the organization’s Web site. "How do we know it's not the department's employees filing the claims? It all needs to be open."

Like the DOT in this case, agencies often try to deny public records to journalists by citing exemptions to the FOIA, even if they are a stretch.

USC graduate student Katie Beck found 225 exemptions to the South Carolina FOIA in her research. These exemptions don’t include the ones listed in the actual FOIA. Those 225 were found in other laws. Most deal with privacy, according to Beck’s thesis.

The courts in South Carolina have generally been in favor of disclosing information, according to Beck’s research. Beck argues that putting so many exemptions outside of the FOIA means the courts will interpret them more broadly. This could lead to other agencies keeping public information private through those exemptions.

Courts in South Carolina have been especially strict with law enforcement agencies, according to Beck’s research. In 2004, a court ruled that the York County Sheriff’s Department was a public body, even though the department argued it wasn’t.

The FOIA does allow access to a wide range of information. The South Carolina Press Association provides journalists and citizens with an explanation of the law.