Court ruling might open door for making personal info public
From The Olympian: When handing over public records, government agencies routinely censor Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and sometimes even dates of birth. A state court ruling this month suggests that often there may be no legal basis for keeping such nuggets of personal information secret. read more ...
LSU presidential search records will be given to judge, but not public, under new compromise
From The Times-Picayune: Information about the candidates LSU considered for university president will be provided to a state district judge, but not to the public or the newspapers who are suing for the information, under a new compromise between ...
VA FOI council kills Hanover County proposal to make public meetings private
From Watchdog.org: RICHMOND — Virginia taxpayers can rest assured that local elected officials won’t be able to legally conspire in small groups without public notice — at least, for now. Members of Virginia’s Freedom of Information Advisory Council on Thursday decidedly killed a heavily criticized proposal from Hanover County’s Board of Supervisors that would have changed Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act so local officials could meet in small groups without giving advanced public notice as long as a quorum was not present. read more ...
NM governor’s past calendars now online; political activities not included
From Albuquerque Journal: SANTA FE – Gov. Susana Martinez’s office began posting the governor’s past calendars on the Internet on Friday, responding to media demands for more details about her schedule. [...] The Associated Press had been seeking copies of the governor’s schedule since late 2011. In addition, the Santa Fe Reporter recently filed a lawsuit alleging Martinez, among other things, violated the state’s open record laws by withholding information about her calendar. read more ...
NYPD ‘secret’ classification for documents ‘means diddly’ in eyes of legal experts
From Huffington Post: NEW YORK -- Since at least 2003, the New York Police Department has been labeling some of its internal documents "Secret," a designation that has baffled government secrecy experts, journalists and civil liberties lawyers. [ ...
Group making request for public records detained by cops after staff felt ‘intimidated’ by cameras
From The Blaze: A group in a municipal office in Hialeah, Florida, making a request for public records was detained by police because employees felt “we had ‘invaded’ the city clerk’s office and ‘attacked’ them with our cameras, putting them ‘under threat’ and causing them to feel ‘intimidated,’” Carlos Miller from Photography Is Not a Crime wrote on his blog. In a separate incident the next day, a man making a request for records in Miami claims he was threatened with arrest. read more ...
Ohio Gov. Kasich orders tax-credit values given to companies to remain public information
From The Columbus Dispatch: Gov. John Kasich has ordered a state agency to end its new policy of keeping secret the estimated values of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of tax credits given to companies each year. The Republican governor learned yesterday that the state’s Development Services Agency, which reports to him, recently had decided to consider the values of tax credits as “trade secrets” and would no longer release them to the public. read more ...
Sierra Club sues for public records in NE Ohio probe of illegal dumping of fracking wastewater
From The Republic: COLUMBUS, Ohio — An environmental group seeking documents related to alleged illegal dumping of wastewater from oil and gas drilling into a northeast Ohio storm sewer is suing the state for access to the records. The Sierra Club filed its suit Monday in the Ohio Supreme Court. The group alleges the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has not produced records responsive to a public records request sent six months ago. read more ...
Wisconsin Sen. Leah Vukmir tries to sidestep open records suit
From Journal Sentinel: Madison — State Sen. Leah Vukmir is trying to sidestep an open records lawsuit by claiming she can't be sued while in office — a legal argument that, if successful, would let all lawmakers ignore the open records law. read more ...
WCOG honors 2 from Tacoma
From The News Tribune: The Washington Coalition for Open Government honored two Tacoma men for their lifelong dedication to open government principles Friday morning at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle. Dave Seago, a former editorial page ...
