Government Transparency

True democracy demands government transparency. The ACLU of Massachusetts works to strengthen the public’s right to hold officials accountable.

Collage of images including hands shaking in the top left, the Massachusetts state house in the center, and a laptop in the top right corner.

In a functioning democracy, people should know what elected officials are up to. Otherwise, the government is not operating by the people, for the people. The ACLU of Massachusetts will always defend the public's right to hold the government accountable.

For example, we are fighting to make public records more accessible to Bay Staters.

The Latest

Press Release
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Massachusetts Court Blocks Religious Statues on Government Building in Quincy

Norfolk Superior Court granted a preliminary injunction blocking the planned installation of two large statues of Catholic saints outside the entrance of the new public safety headquarters in Quincy.
Issue Areas: Government Transparency, Freedom of Religion and Belief
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Press Release
Open Meeting 2

Legislative committee advances bill to modernize Open Meeting Law, guarantee hybrid meetings

In the wake of the pandemic, too many government bodies have reverted to in-person-only meetings, disenfranchising people with disabilities and others.
Issue Areas: Government Transparency
Press Release
Individual in a green baseball cap sits in a yellow chair looking down at a laptop computer. The wall behind the person is white, with a grey window frame in the right third of the frame.

Virtual access to public meetings set to expire March 31, 2025

Accessibility makes our democracy stronger, and we can’t afford to close the door on people who previously faced barriers to exclusively in-person meetings.
Issue Areas: Government Transparency
Court Case
Jan 27, 2026

Burnley v. U.S.

On October 14, 2025, the United States military carried out an illegal missile strike that killed Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, two Trinidadian men who were traveling by boat from Venezuela to their homes in Las Cuevas, Trinidad and Tobago. The American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, and Professor Jonathan Hafetz of Seton Hall Law School filed suit on behalf of Lenore Burnley, Mr. Joseph’s mother, and Sallycar Korasingh, Mr. Samaroo’s sister, seeking redress and accountability for these extrajudicial killings pursuant to the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort Statute.
Court Case
May 09, 2023

ACLU of Massachusetts v. Office of the State Auditor

In May 2023, the ACLU of Massachusetts filed a public records lawsuit against the Office of the State Auditor for wrongfully withholding documents related to prisoner deaths and health care at the houses of correction in two counties.
Court Case
Dec 12, 2022

ACLU of Massachusetts v. Executive Office of Public Safety and Security et al.

The ACLU of Massachusetts, together with law firm Wolf Greenfield, filed a lawsuit against two Massachusetts agencies for failing to produce public records regarding the state’s use of automatic license plate reader (ALPR) technology.
Court Case
Dec 06, 2022

ACLU of Massachusetts v. City of Pittsfield

The ACLU of Massachusetts filed a public records lawsuit against the City of Pittsfield for failing to produce the Pittsfield Police Department’s policies, procedures, and records of street-level interactions.