Releasing Drone Program Memos Is Fundamental to Government Transparency
On May 13, the Center for Effective Government joined other open government organizations in urging Attorney General Eric Holder not to appeal the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York Times Co. v. Department of Justice. In April, the Second Circuit ruled that the government must disclose the legal analysis justifying the government's drone-based targeted killing program, in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Times. read more ...
Vermont’s open meetings work is not finished
For decades Vermont has been at the bottom of the list of states for the public’s right to know the truth about government operations, records and meetings. Two years ago, with the strong support of Gov. Peter Shumlin, Secretary of State Jim ...
Editorial: Vote YES on Prop 42 if you value open-government. Vote no if you prefer secrecy
Prop 42, on the ballot for California’s June 4 election, will amend the Constitution to assure that local governments are legally bound to observe open-government requirements. If you prefer transparency to secrecy in your city government, loca ...
Civic hacking is taking off
The open government movement has become super-charged over the last year. Largely in part to the people and organizations on the front lines. At the 2013 Code for America Summit held in San Francisco, California, I got a chance to speak with some of ...
The best and brightest in open government at TransparencyCamp 2014
It's Open Government Week at Opensource.com, and the Sunlight Foundation is celebrating by bringing amazing people and projects together in open government, open data, and civic hacking. Join like-minded folks at TransparencyCamp in Washington D.C. on May 30 and 31. TransparencyCamp has brought together hundreds of people to share their knowledge about how to use new technologies and develop policies to make our government really work for the people—and to help people work smarter with our government. read more ...
Op-Ed: Right to know compromised
For decades Vermont has been at the bottom of the list of states for the public’s right to know the truth about government operations, records and meetings. Two years ago, with the strong support of Gov. Peter Shumlin, Secretary of State Jim ...
Editorial: Expand public access
Short of rewriting the Virginia Constitution, there is no better way to recast the relationship between citizens and state government than overhauling the Freedom of Information Act. The law enables oversight of officials who operate on the people's behalf, spends public money and should be subject to scrutiny. read more ...
42 Mingo County (WV) employees have county-owned vehicles
Forty-two Mingo County (pop. 26,103) employees drive vehicles that are owned by the county, according to information resulting from one in a series of Freedom of Information Act requests filed by the Daily News. After being required to file an FOIA ...
Judge: Fort Smith Police, City Must Comply With Requests In Whistle Blower Case
Fort Smith Police Chief Kevin Lindsey and two other officers named in an Arkansas Whistle Blower lawsuit must do more to comply with discovery requests from the plaintiffs, a judge ruled Friday. read more ...
CORA fees law could help end abusive tactics in Boulder
A bill signed into law by Governor John Hickenlooper earlier this week could help to finally put an end to abusive government tactics, tactics that are clearly in conflict with the intent of the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) ...
