A bill slowly advancing through the state Legislature would strengthen the state's Freedom of Information Law by removing an unfair impediment to the free flow of information.

Presently, parties denied access to records from a state agency can go to court to argue their case. But even when plaintiffs prevail, they are still stuck with attorneys fees.

A decision by the New York Court of Appeals said, in essence, that the present law permits the awarding of attorney's fees only when the records sought in the case were of “significant interest to the general public.”

Anyone unlawfully denied public records should be able to recoup attorney's fees, not just those records deemed of interest to the general public.

A bill sponsored by state Sen. John DeFrancisco and Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito would require New York courts to award attorney's fees to anyone forced to resort to litigation to establish their legal right to public information.

The idea is to strengthen the current law by more forcefully encouraging agencies to comply with its original intent.

Under the proposed changes to the law, attorney's fees would be granted in cases where an agency had no reasonable argument for denying information and in cases where an agency fails to respond to a request for information in a timely manner.

As it stands now, some agencies won't release information until they're informed of pending legal action. The plaintiffs, then, receive the information they requested, but are saddled with the cost of initiating the litigation.

For large companies - including many newspapers - these costs are insignificant.

But for the average taxpayer, costly litigation surely prevents many from pressing claims for information they have every right to see.

Public information should be public to everyone, and we support the proposed amendment to strengthen New York's Freedom of Information Law.