Interpretation gap, Patriot Act and open records laws

The renewal of the Patriot Act has been all the buzz lately. A recent interview with Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) from Wired.com poses an interesting thought that has implications for governments and legislation at all levels, not just the federal government:

"We’re getting to a gap between what the public thinks the law says and what the American government secretly thinks the law says,” Wyden tells Danger Room in an interview in his Senate office. “When you’ve got that kind of a gap, you’re going to have a problem on your hands."

This "gap" is very important. For instance, when interpreting open records laws, it is very possible that private citizens and government agencies have very different ideas of how that process should work.

Here is a prime example.