FAQ
General questions about the CAP project
How did you decide on the names of individual categories?
When do you expect to be finished with the project?
Do you plan to rate international access laws?
I see some material that is out of date on the Resource page. What do I do?
Questions about using our website and the CAP database
How do I quickly know what is available?
I cannot make the database work. What is wrong?
Why do I not see the category I want?
Questions about the CAP rating system
What do the numbers in parantheses on the all-states page mean? How important are they?
If you have a question that is not answered on this page please contact us.
General questions about the CAP project
In what order will you summarize and rate the various topics in public meetings and open records laws?
The legal issues change so fast we take one category at a time. Right now we are trying to rate some of the basic categories in records such as definitions and custodian procedures. In the meantime, we will be soon adding to the site information about major access categories, such as electronic mail. Watch the front page, left column, for an update on what we have available.
How did you decide on the names of individual categories?
We tried to use the terms most likely to be familiar to the most users. Other commonly used or significant terms were put into Synonym Page accessed through Sunny on the Search Page. Often we will use a term using less space than the one using more space. A longer term can be easily referred to on the synonym page.
When do you expect to be finished with the project?
Our goal, the summarizing and rating of all state access laws, will take several years.
Do you plan to rate international access laws?
Yes, when we have a chance.
I see some material that is out of date on the Resource page. What do I do?
Please contact us. We welcome your assistance.
Keeping track of everything going on in 50 states is a tall order, but we believe that it is important that someone supply as much information as possible.
Questions about using our website and the CAP database
How do I quickly know what is available?
First, we will try to summarize what is available in left margin of home page. Second, by quickly reviewing the menu you will be able to see what categories pop up.
I cannot make the database work. What is wrong?
Most probably you are in Netscape. We have been able to make the database work in Internet Explorer but not Netscape. Otherwise, please contact us through the feedback page so we know of the problem.
Why do I not see the category I want?
Most likely, the category is still in the research or rating stage. However, to be sure, go to the glossary page, and see if you can find a synonym for the category you want.
How can I find the particular issue I want to? Your terminology seems different than what I am used to.
Obviously in this complicated area of the law different people use different
terms to express different ideas. We are building a list of synonyms (link)
for the words that we use that we hope will help you find what you need.
If you cannot find it, we may not have it on line yet. However, please
always feel free to contact us through our feedback page with questions.
When I look at the all-states page or the one state page and see lots of "Not Available." Does that mean you have nothing on the law of that category yet?
No. In fact, if you see a "not available," there is a very good chance that you will see a rating on another aspect of the law, other than the page default. Check the links to "statutes," "constitutions," or "most recent ratings."
Questions about the CAP rating system
What do the numbers in parantheses on the all-states page mean? How important are they?
The numbers on the all-state page behind the statute names are simply the averages of the Sunshine Advisory Board member scores, multiplied by the weight given to the legal authority. We have included those numbers so you can see the basis of the order of the states on the all-states page. Numbers that are close to each other are nearly meaningless because it may mean that the difference was determined by just one or two votes, possibly, out of 8 to 11, depending on how many of the review board members participated on a particular evaluation. The close numbers also may have comparatively little meaning because it is hard to know why one SAB member voted differently than another. Since we are dealing with so many ratings, SAB members are not asked to explain their votes.
However, the further apart the scores are the more significance they take on. The SAB members have clearly seen a difference in the laws of two states if the whole numbers show a difference of two of more integers.
Why do the ratings so far tend to get down to "1" and "2" but almost never up to a "7" or sometimes not even a "6"?
This is in part because our rating system is biased to the lower numbers because every rating of a judge is multiplied by a number for the weighting of the legal authority. All of those numbers are below 9 and therefore those numbers tend to pull down the score a bit. In addition, all of the Sunshine Review Board members have strong histories of studying access issues, or maybe even working for improved access to public meetings and records. Therefore some of the SAB members may be inclined to see less access more quickly than more access.
My state has a pretty good law in at least one category but it was not rated a "7" or a "6." Why not?
See the answer immediately above.