Florida teacher value-added data is public record, appeal court rules
From The Florida Times-Union: The Times-Union sued the state in February for the data’s release. Tuesday’s decision reverses a lower circuit court ruling in March, which concluded the data were exempt from public inspection. According to state law a teacher’s evaluation is not subject to disclosure under the public records law until a year following the school year in which the evaluation was given, but “it does not follow that any information or data used to prepare the evaluation is likewise exempt from disclosure,” the appeal court ruled. read more ...
Judge sets South Bay commissioner sentencing for Dec. 9; Gov. Scott mum on removal from office
From Palm Beach Post: WEST PALM BEACH — South Bay City Commissioner Shirley Walker-Turner will be sentenced Dec. 9 after being convicted last week for violating the state’s Sunshine law, a Palm Beach County court judge decided Tuesday. Gov. Rick Scott has not yet decided whether he will remove the longtime commissioner from office — again — a spokesman said. Scott will wait until the legal proceedings are complete, said spokesman John Tupps. read more ...
Charles Hill: Bill would make government information easier and cheaper for public to obtain
From Michigan Coalition for Open Government: Most government officials and politicians will agree in public that the work of government should be transparent so citizens can judge whether money is being spent wisely and decisions are being made properly. But the reality is that getting your hands on specific government information isn’t always easy, even when the law says it should be available. read more ...
Denver Post editorial: Absurd secrecy in James Holmes trial
From The Denver Post: The preliminary hearing last January for accused mass shooter James Holmes was quite the production. Over the course of 2½ days, prosecutors presented more than a dozen witnesses and scores of items of evidence. All in open court. Now there is a request in the case to deny the release of transcripts of proceedings that took place in open court. The efforts to impose secrecy in this case have reached an absurd level. The latest fracas comes as some victims in the case, who are suing the owners of the theater where Holmes allegedly opened fire ...
Penn State alum starts fund for open records fight
From The Kansas City Star: STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A Penn State alumnus is organizing a drive to fund his legal efforts to obtain records pertaining to the school's handling of the Jerry Sandusky child-sex scandal, and to make the school more transparent and subject to open records laws in the future. read more ...
Changes to Indian Trail public records policy raises questions
From wsoctv.com: INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. — Proposed changes to the public records policy in Indian Trail are raising questions about government transparency. Tuesday evening, the Town Council will vote on the proposal, which civil rights experts said could limit citizens' access to information. [...] Under the new policy, residents would have to prepay a 75 percent deposit for any records requests that could exceed $100. read more ...
Mississippi auditor wants secret court proceedings in public records case; Sun Herald objects
From Sun Herald: State Auditor Stacey Pickering has sent a secret memorandum to the judge in a public records lawsuit filed by the Sun Herald, but the newspaper objects to any consideration of the document. Chancery Court Judge Jennifer Schloegel ...
Inside the OpenMIND: Open source social media datamining and “predictive” policing
From PR Watch: Records obtained by DBA Press and the Center for Media and Democracy (DBA/CMD) shed new light on a technology, OpenMIND, utilized by law enforcement/counter-terrorism fusion center personnel in gathering and analyzing mass amounts o ...
First deadline in Delaware chancery’s ‘secret’ arbitration lawsuit passes without action
From DelawareOnline.com: Attorneys for the Delaware Court of Chancery have let one appeal deadline pass without acting in the lawsuit over the court’s “secret” arbitration program that two federal courts have declared unconstit ...
Pa. open records law faces legislative changes
From NBC Philadelphia: Right-to-know requests from a private citizen recently uncovered an alarming lack of accountability and oversight in the finances of the Oley Valley School District. Among the findings were vague bookkeeping methods, uncheck ...
