#153, OTOH, Robert Steinbuch, Part 2, professor at UA-Little Rock School of Law and government transparency advocate, March 25, 2026

In Part 2 of our three-part conversation with Robert Steinbuch - Law Professor at UA Little Rock and one of Arkansas's leading government transparency advocates - Rob takes Glen and April inside the real-world mechanics of the Freedom of Information Act. He recounts how his FOIA research on law school admissions and affirmative action sparked controversy at his own university, ultimately producing scholarship cited by Justice Thomas in a landmark Supreme Court opinion. Rob walks through the practical nuts and bolts of making Arkansas FOIA requests, breaks down the law's exemptions, and makes a pointed distinction: Arkansas's FOIA is among the best in the nation, but the federal version goes too far in shielding government from accountability. The conversation then broadens into First Amendment territory — an instance when he changed his mind about what constituted legitimate free expression, the role of a free press as the public's proxy for transparency, and the limits of government regulation of social media.   It's a sharp, practical, and occasionally provocative look at transparency and press freedom from someone who has both studied and fought these battles firsthand.

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