Opinion via NOLA.com: I tell my children we live in a democracy, but I'm deceiving them. Louisiana's Constitution articulates a basic standard for democracy — and we aren't meeting it. Under the heading, "Right to Direct Participation," the Constitution's Article XII, Section 3 says, "No person shall be denied the right to observe the deliberations of public bodies and examine public documents, except in cases established by law."
When they enacted the state's Open Meetings Law lawmakers approved this preamble: "It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner . . . "