Sunshine Week 2026: How the CDT is fighting for your access to government
Sunshine Week is here, an important reminder that governments large and small work best in the open, when a light shines on how and why decisions are made.
For journalists at the Centre Daily Times and across the country, it’s a time to reflect on and appreciate freedom of information laws. They make much of our daily reporting possible, from covering school board and municipal meetings to accessing police reports.
But Sunshine Week is also a reminder of the gloomy areas that still exist, and the ongoing fight for transparency. At the CDT, we’re committed to that fight and prepared to take it to court when necessary.
In June 2025, reporter Bret Pallotto submitted a Right to Know Law request to Penn State police for 2024 overtime records. Penn State, which is largely exempt from the RTKL and has longstanding transparency concerns, denied the request. The university wrote that Penn State police is an administrative unit of the university and not subject to the RTKL.
We disagree, and believe Penn State’s police force should be held to the same standards as any other police department in the state.
The Office of Open Records upheld the denial, and represented by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, we are now appealing in the Centre County Court of Common Pleas.
As a reminder, Penn State — the largest employer in Centre County and largest university in the commonwealth — and three other state-related universities have a special exemption in Pennsylvania’s open records law. The schools receive hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds every year, but are not subject to the same openness required of Pennsylvania’s public schools and government agencies.
It’s an unusual situation and a major challenge to holding Penn State accountable for the millions of taxpayer funds bestowed upon it.
Still, the restriction on information doesn’t apply to all information connected to state-related universities, RCFP attorney Paula Knudsen Burke argues in our appeal, using state-related institution employees who willingly participate in Pennsylvania’s State Employees’ Retirement System as an example. Those employees are subject to the RTKL when requested from the State Employees’ Retirement Board.
Penn State recently filed a motion to quash the CDT’s appeal, and oral arguments are scheduled for May 29.
“The records in this case illustrate expenditure of public funds for employees who are trained and certified by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and serve the central government function of law enforcement,” Knudsen Burke wrote in the appeal. “The Right to Know Law expressly requires access to the records requested in this case because the public has a right to know who is working on their behalf, to whom public funds are disbursed and for what purpose.”
This is not the CDT’s only recent fight for transparency. In November, Pennsylvania State Police released dashcam footage of officers stopping along Interstate 99 on Aug. 19, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted an operation that resulted in the arrests of at least 24 people. This footage was released after the CDT, represented by the RCFP, sued the state police after it initially denied a formal request.
While we celebrate transparency and open government this Sunshine Week, recognizing ongoing challenges to shedding light on government activity is also important. I’m thrilled to join a panel discussion this week hosted by the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment, “Sunlight in Happy Valley: Confronting Penn State’s Transparency Gap.” The event takes place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in 121 Sparks Building, and is free and open to the public. I hope to see you there.
This story was originally published March 17, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
