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 ...
County recorder: FOIA a burden on local government
From pantagraph.com: BLOOMINGTON, Illinois — The state law that makes public records accessible to people has created a burden on government staff and misses its intended goal, according to one McLean County elected official. read more ...
State ethics opinion sought in records denial
From The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal: TUPELO – The Daily Journal has requested an advisory opinion from the Mississippi Ethics Commission after the city of Tupelo denied an open records request for emails between Mayor Jason Shelton and former city Development Services Director BJ Teal. read more ...
Fisher becomes executive director of open government group
From Tennessee Coalition for Open Government: NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has named Deborah Fisher as its new executive director. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government is a nonprofit, nonpartisan ...
Opinion: State often keeps public in dark
From Boston Herald: Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis praised the sunlight of public scrutiny as “the best of disinfectants.” The dark and dusty corners of Massachusetts government need far more sunshine. The commonwealth enacted its public records law in 1966, the same year Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act. While the world looks very different than it did in the age of LBJ and Gov. John Volpe, our public records law becomes more antiquated each year, leaving far too many avenues for officials to avoid disclosure. read more ...
Fox reporter’s lawyers seek to keep sources secret
From The Denver Post: ALBANY, NY (AP) - New York's highest court is considering whether state law protects a Fox News reporter from having to reveal the names of her sources for a story about James Holmes, who's accused of killing 12 people in a suburban Denver movie theater last year. Holmes' lawyers want Jana Winters to name the people who told her he had mailed a notebook depicting violence to a psychiatrist. They say the sources violated a gag order, may have lied under oath and won't be credible as trial witnesses. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason ...
