By Viktoria Sundqvist vsundqvist@middletownpress.com @ctfoi on Twitter

Freedom of Information Conference

HADDAM Openness makes for a safer society, panelists at an annual Freedom of Information Conference concluded Tuesday.

In the wake of the Dec. 14 shootings in Newtown, the issues of transparency in government is a timely topic, Freedom of Information Commission Executive Director Colleen Murphy said to a crowd of town officials from across the state gathered at the Riverhouse at Goodspeed Station.

Questions whether gun permit records and death certificates should be public created discussion among panelists and audience members, but the overall consensus was that the release of information is crucial to a fully democratic society.

And keynote speaker Frank Harris, a professor at Southern Connecticut State University, went so far as to say everyone needs to stand up and speak out when they see something wrong.

We are all prospective whistleblowers, he told those gathered in the room. There are all kinds of opportunities to blow the whistle on things that are wrong and help make them right.

But people who speak up often get punished, he said, mentioning Steubensville and the recent rape case of two 13-year-old girls in Torrington who were later attacked online by friends of the suspects after the allegations came to light.

Its the person blowing the whistle who catches hell, Harris said. But he encouraged everyone to stand with the whistleblowers who try to right the wrong.

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Freedom of Information Conference affirms benefits of openness