James C. Adkins

The late James C. Adkins Jr. (1915-1994) was the 58th Justice of the Florida Supreme Court. Justice Adkins served on the Court from 1969 until his retirement in 1987.

Justice Adkins earned the nickname “Justice Sunshine” for his interpretations of Florida’s fledgling Open Meetings Law in favor of the public.  Justice Adkins was on the Florida Supreme Court when challenges to the 1967 law first came before the Court.  Those early cases laid the foundation for the broad sweep of Florida’s Open Meetings Law, still known as one of the strongest in the country.  In the first Florida Supreme Court decision interpreting the Open Meetings Law, the 1969 case Board of Public Instruction v. Doran, Justice Adkins wrote:

Terms such as managed news, secret meetings, closed records, executive sessions, and study sessions have become synonymous with “hanky panky” in the minds of public-spirited citizens. One purpose of the Sunshine Law was to maintain the faith of the public in governmental agencies. Regardless of their good intentions, these specified boards and commissions, through devious ways, should not be allowed to deprive the public of this inalienable right to be present and to be heard at all deliberations wherein decisions affecting the public are being made. 

Justice Adkins was also a leader on the Court for the cameras in the courtroom experiment of the late 1970s.  He made sure the experiment worked by personally presiding over the first televised trial, the “Sandy Creek Murders” in Panama City.  Justice Adkins also advocated a reporter’s privilege, concurring in the 1976 decision that reversed St. Petersburg Times’ reporter Lucy Morgan’s contempt conviction for refusing to disclose a source.

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Marion B. Brechner

Marion B. Brechner is strongly committed to defending Florida’s freedom of information laws.  Mrs. Brechner and her husband, the late Joseph L. Brechner, worked together throughout his long career as a broadcaster to ensure access to government information. 

Mr. and Mrs. Brechner’s generosity helped endow the Brechner Eminent Scholar of Freedom of Information Chair and build the current facilities for The Brechner Center. 

Since Mr. Brechner’s death in 1990, Marion Brechner has continued her and Joe’s commitment to the First Amendment and freedom of information.  She created the Joseph L. and Marion B. Brechner graduate assistantship in 1996 because she saw the importance of extending understanding of Florida’s Sunshine laws and other freedom of information issues to the then-new medium of the Internet and the World Wide Web.  She endowed the Marion Brechner Citizen Access Project (MBCAP) in 1999 because she believed its mission — to examine open government laws in all 50 states — was vital to the continuance of our democratic society.

In 2006, Mrs. Brechner gave another generous donation to the University of Florida to continue the fight for freedom of information.  The donation helped fund the Florida FOI Summit and a new “FOI 911” rapid response research service within MBCAP.

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Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte

Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, President Emeritus of The Florida State University, served as President from January 1994 to January 2003.  He is also a former president of the American Bar Association. 

D’Alemberte represented Dade County in the Florida House of Representatives from 1966 to 1972.  As a legislator, D’Alemberte was instrumental in making significant reforms to Florida’s Sunshine and Public Records laws.  During his active years of practice as an attorney, D’Alemberte concentrated on media and public law work and his cases included the proceedings that led to the first rule allowing camera access to courtrooms.

Awards D’Alemberte has received for his freedom of information efforts include the 2006 Pete Weitzel/Friend of the First Amendment Award, the 1986 National Sigma Delta Chi First Amendment Award, a National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences “Emmy” in 1985 for his work in open government (particularly in the opening of court proceedings to journalists), and the 1984 Florida Civil Liberties Union “Nelson Poynter” Award.

In recent years, D’Alemberte has taken a number of important open government cases before the courts on a pro bono basis.  In July 2007, he was named to Gov. Charlie Crist’s Commission on Open Government.

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H.G. "Buddy" Davis Jr.

The late H.G. “Buddy” Davis Jr. (1924-2004) was a longtime journalism professor at the University of Florida and a Pulitzer-Prize winning editorialist. 

Davis played a key role in the development of Florida’s Open Meetings Law, which he helped draft.  During a meeting of the journalism fraternity Sigma Delta Chi (now the Society of Professional Journalists), Sen. J. Emory “Red” Cross told a group of journalism professors that he wanted to introduce a stronger Open Meetings Law.  The professors, led by Davis, looked at similar statutes across the nation and presented a model statute to Cross.  It took 10 legislative sessions, but the comprehensive Open Meetings Law was finally passed by the Florida Legislature in 1967.

Davis won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1971.  That same year he was recognized as the College of Journalism and Communication’s second alumnus of distinction and was named a distinguished alumnus of UF.  In 1977, he received the Wells Key Award from Sigma Delta Chi.  That year he also was named a Distinguished Service Professor at UF.  He received the Distinguished Faculty Award from Florida Blue Key in 1965. 

Davis retired from UF in 1985, after 31 years of teaching.

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Louis Michael "Skip" Perez

As executive editor of The Ledger (Lakeland), Louis Michael “Skip” Perez has consistently fought for the right to government information, and the resulting stories have earned The Ledger numerous awards. 

For more than three decades, Perez has been a part of The Ledger team.  A 1987 investigation of the Polk County sheriff regarding destruction of public records, refusal to fulfill reporters’ record requests and “gag orders” on law enforcement personnel led to a grand jury investigation and subsequent resignation of the sheriff.  The Ledger received the Roy Howard Award for Public Service Journalism for its investigation.  The National Press Club also honored the newspaper for its success in accessing 1993 negotiations in a school desegregation case.

Perez represents The New York Times Company in the Inter Americas Press Association (IAPA), where he is one of only two representatives of the United States on the Freedom of the Press Committee.  He was also on the board of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors (FSNE) for several years, during a time when the organization became very active in FOI issues.  Perez served as FSNE president from 1981-1982.

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Gregg D. Thomas

Gregg D. Thomas is an attorney with the law firm Thomas & LoCicero in Tampa.  A graduate of the University of Florida’s law school, Thomas was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1976.

Over the past 30 years, Thomas has argued media matters — including reporter subpoenas, access to judicial proceedings, public records, open meetings, and defamation cases — in federal and state courts throughout Florida. He achieved positive results in three major Florida Supreme Court cases involving reporter subpoenas, access to public records, and misappropriation of likeness.

Thomas has consistently defended newspapers and television stations in the courts, and his work has helped shape Florida’s modern freedom of information laws.  For example, as a result of Thomas’ work, there is no automatic delay in releasing public records; crime scene and autopsy photos are available to the public once they have been offered into evidence at trial; and government records do not become exempt when incorporated in a criminal investigative file.

In addition to his work in the courtroom, Thomas is also dedicated to mentoring journalists and lawyers, publishing articles, and presenting seminars to both his clients and the public.

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