CFOIC’s Zansberg inducted into Colorado Press Association hall of fame
Steve Zansberg, First Amendment attorney and president of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, is a new member of the Colorado Press Association’s hall of fame.
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Concerned about creating ‘three classes of open records requests,’ Polis vetoes CORA bill
Writing that “all legitimate requests for public transparency” under the Colorado Open Records Act “should be treated equally under the law,” Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday vetoed a bill that gave government entities more time to respond to requests made by the public and businesses but kept deadlines the same for journalists.
Newspaper editor appeals court ruling that shields the identities of people who want library books banned or reclassified
The editor of the Crested Butte News is appealing a district court ruling that lets Gunnison County librarians withhold the names of people who want certain books reclassified or removed altogether from library shelves.
When you’re told that ‘no such records exist’
Reporters have been more likely to get a no-such-records-exist response since the Colorado legislature in 2016 adopted a simplified and expedited process for sealing the criminal records of defendants who are acquitted or have completed a diversion agreement or a deferred sentence, or their cases are dismissed.
House committee debates “right to record” police, advances bill to promote body cams
A bill that underscores the public’s right to record police activities was met with opposition from law enforcement authorities and prosecutors who called the measure overly punitive and worried about its effect on their ability to obtain recordings as evidence in criminal cases.
Video: Sunshine Week panel on getting information from criminal justice records
The Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act isn’t as well known or as well understood as its sister statute, the Colorado Open Records Act. That’s why the CFOIC assembled a panel of experts to discuss the law that governs the release of criminal justice records – and to provide tips and workarounds for getting the records you want.
Video: Lawyers discuss gray areas of Colorado’s public records law and open meetings law
What do you get when you ask three lawyers to discuss the ambiguous aspects of the Colorado Open Records Act and the state’s Sunshine (open meetings) Law? The answer is not four opinions.
House Judiciary Committee kills bill to make the state public defender’s office subject to CORA
State lawmakers defeated a bill that would have made the State Public Defender’s Office subject to the Colorado Open Records Act, preferring to let the Colorado Judicial Branch write its own rules for releasing administrative records for that agency and other agencies under its control.
CFOIC’s year in review: Transparency highlights and lowlights from 2014
For the CFOIC, revisiting 2014 reveals a somewhat troubling string of stories about issues and problems affecting government transparency in Colorado. Consider them one by one and you might not be all that concerned. But put them in a list and you could reasonably conclude that open government in the Centennial State is still a work in progress.
Award-winning reporter Benns “cranks out story after story about how citizens deserve better”
Reporter Teresa Benns has endured verbal attacks and threats of physical violence while documenting and commenting on the workings and failings of government in Saguache County and the small town of Center. She perseveres because it’s her duty, she said, accepting the CFOIC’s Jean Otto Friend of Freedom Award.