NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for October 25, 2013
From NFOIC: A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week. While you're at it, be sure to check out State FOIA Friday Archives. read more ...
Jeffrey Roberts: When public information is not public
From Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition: With a proposed property tax increase on the November ballot, Conifer resident Melody Mesmer thought that residents of the Elk Creek Fire Protection District ought to know how much district employees have been paid over the last few years in salary and overtime. But even though such information is public under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), the fire district isn’t handing it over. read more ...
Daily Camera reporter explains why he fought for releasing the Ramsey indictment
From the (Boulder) Daily Camera: By Charlie Brennan, Camera Staff Writer The Daily Camera reported Jan. 27 in a front-page exclusive that the JonBenet Ramsey grand jury had voted, more than 13 years before, to indict both John and Patsy Ramsey on a charge of felony child abuse resulting in death. Before that day, the true actions of those 12 Boulder County citizens had been misreported. The public had long been told that jurors had not taken a vote, or, alternatively, that they had elected not to indict anyone. The January story, under my byline, was the culmination of literally ...
Virginia Coalition for Open Government will host annual conference
From The Virginia Gazette: WILLIAMSBURG - Although it will come after November's elections, the Virginia Coalition for Open Government's annual conference will explore "Gifts, Disclosure and the Virginia Way," according to a release. The day-long ...
‘Independent review’ of US spying policy not subject to open-records law
From Watchdog.org: A special committee ordered by President Obama to review the legality of the National Security Agency’s spying programs will not be subject to government transparency laws. The president created the NSA review group in ...
The Open Government Partnership comes to London
From Reuters: Next week, the Summit of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) will be held in London. Established in 2011, under American and Brazilian leadership, the OGP is a group of 60 countries, including the US, the UK, Brazil and 6 African c ...
3rd Circuit decision allows FBI to continue to withhold race data from ACLU
From NJ.com: In 2008, the Federal Bureau of Investigation revised its operational guidelines known as the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide. Under the new marching orders, the document allowed agents to engage in limited racial and ethn ...
Cybersecurity directive from Bush kept secret
From Courthouse News Service: (CN) - President George W. Bush's presidential directive on cybersecurity is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, a federal judge ruled. The Electronic Privacy Information Center had filed the FOIA request i ...
US government secrecy making historical research difficult
From Al Jazeera America: While much has been made of the government's current penchant for secrecy, few have noticed that this atmosphere now shrouds government history as well. Working on a biography of a noted Washington journalist, I placed a ...
Frank Gibson: No excuse for Hendersonville’s public records saga
From The Tennessean: It has always troubled me that ignorance of the law can be used as a legal defense for not complying with the Tennessee Public Records Act. That absurdity came back a few weeks ago when The Hendersonville Star News reported o ...