Freedom of Information

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    The FOI Advocate

  • Investigative Team Finds Pennsylvania Lacking in Transparency, Despite New Right to Know Law

    Charles N. Davis
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:18 pm
    Pittsburgh's Team 4 reports that despite a new Right to Know Law, aimed at improving Pennsylvania government transparency, the Legislature is not being forthcoming. For example, the Legislature doesn't post online all of its leases for lawmakers' district offices, citing the need to redact signatures from the leases, even though Team 4 reports the Legislature promised to post the records online

  • Free Legal Help to Online Journalists

    Charles N. Davis
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm
    The Citizen Media Law Project announced the launch of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University's Online Media Legal Network (OMLN), a new pro bono initiative that connects lawyers and law school clinics with online journalists who need legal help. OMLN will provide free assistance on a variety of legal issues, including business formation and governance, copyright

  • Bruce and Sara Schundler: Champions of Mesa Verde National Park and FOIA

    Charles N. Davis
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:40 pm
    Heroic FOI work is being done by former NJ public official, Bruce Schundler, and his wife as they seek accountability at the Mesa Verde National Park. Initially trying to avoid the bureaucratic costs of a FOIA request but ultimately forced to file a formal FOIA request and not seeking any statutory fee waivers, the seasonal park ranger wanted information regarding sister relationships at the

  • Texas Cities to Challenge State Law Requiring Open Government Meetings

    Charles N. Davis
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:13 pm
    Texas cities Pflugerville and Rockport as well as council members from 18 others will challenge the state law requiring open government meetings in a lawsuit to be filed in federal court in Pecos before the end of the year.The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a similar lawsuit on the grounds that former Alpine council members lacked standing to sue. Get more here.

  • West Virginia Lawmakers Suggest Revising State FOIA Statute

    Charles N. Davis
    20 Nov 2009 | 11:49 am
    West Virginia state representative and House Judiciary Chairwoman Carrie Webster says the legislature should revisit the many exemptions and exceptions made to the state's Freedom of Information Act. Webster's statement comes on the heels of a West Virgnia Supreme Court decision in which 13 emails between former Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard and Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship are not
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    The FOIA blog

  • Friday FOIA Roundup

    scott hodes
    20 Nov 2009 | 4:53 am
    Here's a couple of interesting FOIA items that have come into The FOIA blog's world headquarters this week. Law student Alexander Sellinger has an article which is appearing in the Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law.  It's entitled Backdoor Bailout Disclosure: Must the Federal Reserve Disclose the Identities of its Borrowers Under The Freedom of Information Act?  It can be found here: Download Fed_Lending_Disclosure_Article[1] Bruce Schundler thought there was some financial irregularities at the Mesa Verde National Park, so he made a series of FOIA…

  • Two in GOP Seek Further Fed Transparency

    scott hodes
    19 Nov 2009 | 7:29 am
    Two Republican Congressman have written an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal calling on further transparency at the Federal Reserve.  Representative Ron Paul (R-Tx) and Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) write that increased transparency would, among other things, make it so that news organizations (like Fox News and Bloomberg) wouldn't have to file FOIA requests and then sue for information. I actually think the increased transparency at the Federal Reserve is an area where Congressional Demorcrats and Republicans can agree on; hopefully these Congressman will keep their focus on…

  • Fed, Treasury Sued For Bush-Era Documents

    scott hodes
    19 Nov 2009 | 4:29 am
    Judicial Watch has sued the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department for documents pertaining to actions and meetings that occured in 2008, when the economy was in an apparent free-fall.  Both agencies have failed to act on the requests. 

  • Arguments Heard in Reverse-FOIA Action

    scott hodes
    17 Nov 2009 | 3:02 am
    The U.S. Court of Appeals heard arguments in a reverse-FOIA case on Monday that involved documents submitted to the government by United Technologies.  The blog of the Legal Times has this on the case. For those of you who don't know what a reverse-FOIA is, it is when a submitter of records who has asked the government to withhold the records pursuant to exemption 4, loses at the administrative level and brings a lawsuit to enjoin the release of the documents.  It is called "reverse-FOIA" because it is a submitter that seeks protection under an exemption and the…

  • Alaska Still Blocking Palin E-mails

    scott hodes
    16 Nov 2009 | 7:46 am
    The state of Alaska is still blocking access to it's former Governer, Sarah Palin's official emails.  The Anchorage Daily News has more.
 
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    PaFOIC

  • Despite 'RTK' Law, some records hard to find

    info@openrecordspa.org
    18 Nov 2009 | 2:59 pm
    Why is it still so difficult for citizens to get public documents from the Legislature a year after lawmakers passed a new law and promised a new day? WTAE Team 4 investigator Jim Parsons reports that no one knows how the Legislature is doing under the new Right To Know Law.

  • Monroe Co. judge overturns two open records rulings

    info@openrecordspa.org
    16 Oct 2009 | 5:49 pm
    A Monroe County judge overturned two rulings made by the state's new Office of Open Records, which will keep information about the paychecks of public employees and pre-meeting materials out of view.

  • Judge fights release of material on his computers

    info@openrecordspa.org
    5 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pm
    Bradford County President Judge Jeffrey Smith has hired a private attorney to fight The Review's effort to inspect the non-judicial content of a copy of the hard drives on computers he used.

  • Judge to hear open records case

    info@openrecordspa.org
    2 Oct 2009 | 5:49 pm
    A Mercer County Common Pleas Court judge next week will hear the appeal of the Sharon Sanitary Authority regarding the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruling that they must allow The Herald to inspect delinquent sewer accounts.

  • Dunmore loses appeal in open-records case

    info@openrecordspa.org
    2 Oct 2009 | 1:52 pm
    The state Office of Open Records has ruled a Dunmore councilwoman must turn over e-mail correspondence between herself and other council members regarding the former borough manager.
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    California First Amendment Coalition

  • A&A: Denial of access to records during business hours

    Deborah Fruin
    20 Nov 2009 | 5:56 pm
    Q: On at least four occasions , I have gone to the Park and Recreation Department to review public records (on site, in the building) during normal business hours and I have been sent away. If at all possible, I would like to file a motion this week to force the department to allow me access to these and other records. A: I am sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time obtaining public records.  As you know, under the Public Records Act, public records — which include “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared,…

  • A&A: Councilman asks intern on date via city issued cell

    Deborah Fruin
    20 Nov 2009 | 4:27 pm
    Q: I have learned that a city councilman was sending text messages to a city intern, asking her for a date. I would like to file a CPR request for the text messages sent from his city issued Blackberry. I’m sure they (the councilman and the city attorney) would try to argue that such a message was personal but I feel that the text was a form of sexual harassment, was improper, and was a misuse of city resources. Are there any legal consideration that would be helpful in addressing this issue? I did submit a CPR request asking for city policy on preservation of emails, texts messages,…

  • A&A:City Surveillance Cameras and Public Records Law

    Deborah Fruin
    20 Nov 2009 | 2:25 pm
    Q: Are city-owned and operated surveillance camera recordings of public areas subject to disclosure in accordance with the California Public Records Law? A: Under the Public Records Act, public records — which include “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics,” Gov’t Code section 6252(e) — are presumed to be open to the public and must be disclosed unless a specific provision of the Act or other law…

  • Medicare payment data to go onto public Web site

    donal brown
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:42 am
    The Center for Medicare is planning to put up information about Medicare payments onto a Web site so that the public can track where the money is going. Some are concerned that this way of ferreting out fraud may also result in invasions of privacy. -DB NextGov November 19, 2009 By Aliya Sternstein The Obama administration plans to launch a Web site in December that the public can use to monitor Medicare payments, but some health care specialists say it will be difficult for the application to expose fraudulent payments and protect privacy at the same time. The Web site will allow people to…

  • Feds can’t certify accuracy of stimulus reporting data

    donal brown
    19 Nov 2009 | 11:38 am
    An investigation of the government site with reports from stimulus recipients shows that much of the information is not validated and contains numerous errors. -DB Sunlight Foundation Commentary November 18, 2009 By Paul Blumenthal Recovery.gov is supposed to be a transparency clearing house for information on the federal stimulus spending appropriated in the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed earlier this year. Unfortunately, the reports on spending and jobs saved or created are showing errors across the board. Clay Johnson at Sunlight Labs looked at the “dirty…
 
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    MN Cogi

  • Don Gemberling on Government Info

    20 Nov 2009 | 1:13 pm
    Thanks to Don Gemberling for sending us a series of articles that were originally published on the Pioneer Press: A Price Of Ignorance In Minnesota - State Open-Government Law Loses Strength If Citizens Don't Know It Sunshine Week - Accountable Government Requires Accessible Information Your Government, Your Information - A Quick Guide To Minnesota's Open-Government Laws Open Government - Citizen Sunshine Proposed Changes To Data Practices Shelved - More Could Have Been Kept From PublicRead the articles

  • Minnesota's data practices law - a look to the future

    11 Oct 2009 | 6:34 pm
    COGI-tations: A program of the Minnesota Coalition on Government InformationTuesday, October 27, 2009 - Event Photos4:30 - 6:00 p.m.Midtown Commons, 2324 University Ave West, St. Paul (just East of Raymond)Women Venture meeting roomFree and convenient parking West of the Midtown Commons complex.An open discussion of changing needs, many the result of technology. A chance to review the principles that undergird the state’s unique data practices law. Come prepared to share issues, experience, a vision of future challenges and practical suggestions for needed change.Resource people, on hand to…

  • International Right To Know Day - September 28 2009

    28 Sep 2009 | 2:28 pm
    The World Prepares for International Right To Know Day 2009. Check out the details at FreedomInfo.org.Find out more at the Freedom of Information Advocates Network (FOIAnet).

  • MN COGI Wins Blog Award

    19 Sep 2009 | 4:06 pm
    MN COGI wins spot on Top 100 Freedom of Information Blogs from The Daily Reviewer!

  • International Right to Know -- COGI-tations Presenter Notes

    19 Sep 2009 | 3:14 pm
    September 10, 2009, COGI-tations ForumThe right to ask...the right to knowNotes.pdf from presenter, Barb Frey
 
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    Capital Eye

  • Republican Senator Robert Bennett Seeks to Permanently Sunset TARP Program

    Michael Beckel
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:50 pm
    Name: Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah)Position: Born in Salt Lake City in 1933, Robert "Bob" Bennett hails from a well-connected Utah family. He is the grandson of the seventh president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the son of a former four-term U.S. senator. After graduating from the University of Utah and serving in the Utah Army National Guard as a Mormon chaplain for 12 years, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he led the Department of Transportation's congressional affairs in 1969 and then headed the lobbying firm Robert Mullen & Company from 1970 until 1972.

  • Capital Eye Opener: Friday, November 20

    Michael Beckel
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am
    Your daily dose of news and tidbits from the world of money in politics:PALIN'S BOOK TOUR DE FORCE: Folks in Michigan waited in line for hours to see former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on tour for her new book, Going Rogue. The former governor of Alaska also offered to provide a signed copy to anyone who donates at least $100 to the Republican Governors Association -- the same offer she is making to people who contribute $100 or more to her political action committee. On Saturday, Dec. 5, she'll be in the D.C. metro area, signing books at a shopping center in Fairfax,…

  • Finance and Credit Companies Lobby Lawmakers As Congress Moves to Aggressively Regulate Them

    Michael Beckel
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:25 am
    Total to Current Members of Congress since 1989: $23.3 million (53 percent to Republicans) Total Lobbying Expenditures since 1998: $264.2 million The U.S. economy faltered after the subprime mortgage meltdown, but these investments weren't the only obligations that many consumers defaulted on. Credit card companies, private student loan providers and payday lenders -- all groups within the finance and credit industry -- saw customers become more and more squeezed for cash. While many people have used the extra money from the Obama tax cuts and the stimulus bill to pay down personal debt,…

  • Spencer Bachus: 'No More Bailouts'

    Lindsay Renick Mayer
    19 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am
    Name: Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.)Position: Although Bachus isn't new to the House Financial Services Committee, he's relatively new to the committee's ranking member position, which he assumed in 2007. Bachus competed with Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.) for the spot and won after arguing that he has a better working relationship with interest groups and with chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), according to the Almanac of American Politics. Prior to that time, Bachus had been the chairman of the committee's financial institutions and consumer credit subcommittee. Money Summary: There's no doubt that…

  • Capital Eye Opener: Thursday, November 19

    Lindsay Renick Mayer
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:45 am
    Your daily dose of news and tidbits from the world of money in politics: WILL THEY OR WON'T THEY: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) revealed his version of a health-care reform package last night, hoping to win over three moderate Democrats who are on the fence -- Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. Reid's extensive measure includes a public insurance option with an opt-out option for states, would require individuals to buy coverage and insurance companies to provide coverage in spite of preexisting conditions, according to the…
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    EFF.org Updates

  • Google Books Settlement 2.0: Evaluating Competition

    fred
    19 Nov 2009 | 7:03 pm
    This is the third in a series of posts about the proposed Google Book Search settlement. Now that we've described the proposed settlement agreement's biggest potential upside for the public—expanded online access to books, particularly out-of-print books—that benefit must be weighed against the potential down-sides. On that score, the settlement's potential impact on competition in the online book market has loomed large. Critics of the settlement have emphasized two principal dangers: The potential for a Google monopoly over orphan and unclaimed books. The potential for…

  • UK Alert: Stop the Pirate-Finder General!

    richard
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:23 pm
    In the UK, the Labour administration's impatience to pass its "Digital Economy" agenda risks throwing balanced, deliberate reform of copyright law utterly out of the window. With no warning or consultation, the draft Digital Economy bill now includes a provision granting the Secretary of State — currently Lord Peter Mandelson — the power to make statutory instruments that can re-write Britain's Copyright, Design and Patents Act with almost no Parliamentary debate. Once the Digital Economy Bill is passed by Parliament, the Secretary of State could use sweeping powers to effect…

  • A Pirate-Finder General for the UK?

    danny
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:22 pm
    Copyright law involves a delicate balance, made all the more fragile by the number of people who now find their every day actions affected by it. Some people benefit, others find ordinary behaviors made illegal. Reforming copyright in the face of new technology is a vital process, but it needs to be performed carefully, with all affected parties considered in the debate. In the UK, the Labour administration's impatience to pass its "Digital Economy" agenda, risks throwing that balance utterly out the window. In less than 12 hours' time, the draft Digital Economy Bill will be released. It will…

  • EFF Tackles Bogus Podcasting Patent - And We Need Your Help

    rebecca
    19 Nov 2009 | 10:40 am
    Patenting podcasting? You've got to be kidding. Yet a company called Volomedia just got the Patent Office to grant them such exclusive rights. EFF and the law firm of Howrey, LLP aren’t willing to just sit by and watch. This patent could threaten the vibrant community of podcasters and millions of podcast listeners. We want to put a stop to it, but we need your help. The Volomedia patent covers "a method for providing episodic media." It's a ridiculously broad patent, covering something that many folks have been doing for many years. Worse, it could create a whole new layer of ongoing costs…

  • Stopping the ACTA Juggernaut

    eddan
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:26 am
    The ACTA juggernaut continues to roll ahead, despite public indignation about an agreement supposedly about counterfeiting that has turned into a regime for global Internet regulation. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has already announced that the next round of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations will take place in January — with the aim of concluding the deal "as soon as possible in 2010." For the rest of us, with access to only leaks and whispers of what ACTA is about, there are many troubling questions. How can such a radical proposal…
 
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    OMBWatch: The Fine Print

  • New Web Tools Help Public Track Pollution

    bturnbaugh
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:14 pm
    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a new feature on its website that uses several new interactive Web technologies that let users track the emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) from coal-fired power plants. SO2 is a pollutant that causes acid rain and harm to public health. EPA's Acid Rain Program (ARP) has been tracking quarterly SO2 emissions from covered power plants since 1995. The new features are a welcome tool for helping the public and government officials track pollution, hold polluting facilities accountable, and ensure that policies to reduce pollution are working.

  • More Flimflammery on Mountaintop Mining

    mmadia
    20 Nov 2009 | 8:59 am
    In a Wednesday press release, the Interior Department trumpets “Initiatives to Better Protect Streams in Coal Country.” Is the Obama administration finally doing away with the terrible stream buffer zone rule finalized near the end of the Bush administration – the rule that lifted the decades-old ban on depositing mountaintop mining refuse in or near rivers and streams? Not exactly. Interior is announcing that sometime in the near future it will publish an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) which will request “comments on alternatives for revising the…

  • CBPP Report Brings Clarity to Recovery Act Debate

    cjennings
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:28 am
    <!--break--> A new report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities makes five key points about the Recovery Act that should be repeated over and over, as opponents of federal aid to victims of the Great Recession dig trenches in preparation for combating future relief. 1: Recent increases in unemployment do not mean the law is not working. 2: The Administration and Congress expected the stimulus money to be spent gradually over the next two to three years, and what’s been spent to date is stimulating the economy and helping millions of Americans. 3: The nation faces a very serious…

  • After the Hearing: Notes on Stimulus Oversight

    srosenamy
    19 Nov 2009 | 3:35 pm
    As I mentioned in my post yesterday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held its first stimulus oversight hearing in months today, this one focused on reviewing the first round of recipient reporting under the Recovery Act. The hearing featured testimony from Earl Devaney, Chairman of the Recovery Board, Gene Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office, and undersecretaries from the Departments of Education and Transportation. Here's a quick breakdown of the few news nuggets from Dodaro and Devaney in today's hearing: <!--break--> Dodaro: The…

  • OMB Responds to Criticism over Endocrine Program

    mmadia
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:38 am
    White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag said Monday that OMB did not improperly interfere in an EPA program meant to test the hormone-disrupting effects of chemicals. Orszag said that EPA has complete control over the program. In a letter to Rep. Edward Markey (responding to a letter Markey sent Oct. 22), Orszag said, “OMB does not question the scientific responsibilities and rigors put forward by the EPA.” At issue is EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) which requires pesticide and other chemical manufacturers to test their products…
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    Google News: Freedom of Information

  • Federal push to digitize health records - San Diego Union Tribune

    22 Nov 2009 | 12:19 am
    Federal push to digitize health recordsSan Diego Union TribuneMedsphere based its technology on a source code from the Veterans Affairs Department, which the company acquired through a Freedom of Information Act and more »

  • Student visa numbers soar after new rules take effect - BBC News

    21 Nov 2009 | 11:54 pm
    BBC NewsStudent visa numbers soar after new rules take effectBBC NewsBut a Freedom of Information request has revealed the number of students entering from these countries alone nearly tripled over the summer. and more »

  • Drug addict diggers claim baseless: ADF - Sydney Morning Herald

    21 Nov 2009 | 9:55 pm
    Thaindian.comDrug addict diggers claim baseless: ADFSydney Morning HeraldThe Sunday Telegraph claimed figures obtained under Freedom of Information revealed hundreds of soldiers, sailors and airmen have tested positive to a Diggers addicted to cocaine, heroin and other hard drugsCourier Mailall 28 news articles »

  • Hacked CRU emails a blip on the road to Copenhagen - Troy Media Corporation

    21 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm
    New York Daily NewsHacked CRU emails a blip on the road to CopenhagenTroy Media Corporation when asked to release their data so as to permit analysis by independent scientists under a freedom of information request, Jones, Mann and others Hacked Emails Show Climate Science Ridden with RancorWall Street Journalclimategate emails provide unwanted scrutiny of climate scientistsExaminer.comData Breach Embroils Climate ScientistsScience Magazine (blog)Eco Factory -Wired News -SecuObsall 326 news articles »

  • PM lauds press freedom in speech, doesn't take questions from reporters - The Canadian Press

    21 Nov 2009 | 7:11 pm
    The Canadian PressPM lauds press freedom in speech, doesn't take questions from reportersThe Canadian Press for routine information can take days or sometimes ignored altogether and delays in processing freedom-of-information requests has grown markedly. and more »
 
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    Google News: Open Government

  • Legal aid for people fighting city hall - Southtown Star

    22 Nov 2009 | 2:17 am
    Legal aid for people fighting city hallSouthtown StarAn Oak Lawn woman suing her own village is the first client of the Center for Open Government, a new legal aid clinic at the Chicago-Kent

  • Kiss hasn't learned open government lesson - BurlingtonFreePress.com

    22 Nov 2009 | 1:29 am
    Kiss hasn't learned open government lessonBurlingtonFreePress.com from the City Council and Burlington residents, City Hall is showing no evidence that it has learned anything about open government from the fiasco. and more »

  • Transparency needed - Spartanburg Herald Journal

    22 Nov 2009 | 12:58 am
    Transparency neededSpartanburg Herald JournalAnyone familiar with the democratic process and the principles of open government would assume the people of this state have a clear right to know whether and more »

  • Big news from Washington that everyone misses - San Francisco Chronicle

    21 Nov 2009 | 9:26 am
    Big news from Washington that everyone missesSan Francisco ChronicleInspired by the President's call for more open government, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts launched its data catalogue, following in the footsteps of and more »

  • Cooking the Books on Climate? - PoliGazette (blog)

    21 Nov 2009 | 7:55 am
    New York Daily NewsCooking the Books on Climate?PoliGazette (blog)The e-mails from the CRU at East Anglia University suggest that instead of open government, open and unfettered scientific and intellectual inquiry, The Climate Research Unit Emails and The Pentagon PapersGather.comall 326 news articles »
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    Open-Governement Blog

  • Bellingham Herald Editorial Blasts Decision on Destroying Public Records

    18 Nov 2009 | 1:40 pm
    This Bellingham Herald editorial uses unusually sharp language to criticize a Whatcom County Superior Court ruling upholding an arbitrator's ruling (made before a public records request was made) that the City of Bellingham must destroy a public record. NOTE: Greg Overstreet of Allied Law Group represented the Bellingham Herald in this case.

  • Spokesman Review Editorial on Clean Air Agency Settlement and Need for Taping Law

    13 Nov 2009 | 9:30 am
    This editorial from the Spokesman Review describes why a recent $25,000 settlement by the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency of an Open Public Meetings Act case shows that the Legislature should pass a bill requiring the taping of executive sessions.NOTE: Michele Earl-Hubbard of Allied Law Group represented the citizens group in this case.

  • Board of Accountancy Blasted for Lack of Accountability

    12 Nov 2009 | 7:58 am
    This editorial from The Olympian describes the lack of accountability on the Board of Accountancy, the state agency regulating accountants, and calls for reforms. The Board recently paid $500,000 to settle retaliation and public records lawsuits brought by an accountant.NOTE: The editorial quotes Greg Overstreet of Allied Law Group who represents the accountant who obtained the settlement from the Board.

  • Spokane Air Agency Settles Open Meetings Suit

    11 Nov 2009 | 8:13 pm
    This story in the Spokesman-Review describes the decision by the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency to settle an Open Public Meetings Act lawsuit brought by the Center for Justice.NOTE: Michele Earl-Hubbard of Allied Law Group represented the Center for Justice.

  • Olympian Editorial on New Ombudsman Office

    10 Nov 2009 | 1:56 pm
    This editorial from The Olympian describes why a new office should be created to give citizens and agencies a quick and inexpensive administrative remedy to obtain public records. Citizens could still go to court if they chose.
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    Local Open Government Blog

  • State Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee Allows Judges to Blog

    20 Nov 2009 | 4:58 pm
    In a recent Ethics Opinion, the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee authorized blogging by judges. The Ethics Opinion advises, however, that any judge that engages in blogging should consider posting a disclaimer that the opinions expressed are only those of the author and should not be imputed to other judges and should outline constraints that the judge is subject to in order to avoid ex parte communication.  See our October 23, 2009 blog entry regarding the City of Federal Way v. Koenig case for information regarding the applicability of the Public Records Act to the…

  • Kitsap County Parks Department Takes Down Facebook Site In Light of Secretary of State's Records Management Advisory

    10 Nov 2009 | 10:13 am
    The Kitsap Sun recently reported that on October 28, 2009, the Kitsap County Parks and Recreation Department’s blog (launched September 8, 2009 and hosted on a County intern’s Facebook site) was taken down. According to the article, the decision to take the blog down stemmed partially from the electronic records management advisory issued by the Secretary of State’s office. See our November 4, 2009 blog posting for more information regarding the advisory. The other reasons cited include the need to update the County’s communication policy to cover…

  • Washington State Archives Publishes Records Management Advice Regarding Blogs, Wikis, Facebook and Twitter

    4 Nov 2009 | 5:12 pm
    The Washington State Archives recently published a records management advice sheet entitled “Electronic Records Management: Blogs, Wikis, Facebook, Twitter & Managing Public Records” that provides guidance to state and local government agencies regarding the retention of public records of posts to social networking websites such as blogs, wikis, Facebook, and Twitter.  The advice sheet provides five (5) factors for agencies to consider when managing the retention of public records created or received through social networking sites. These factors include determining…

  • Supreme Court of Arizona Holds Metadata is a Public Record

    30 Oct 2009 | 10:43 am
    Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Arizona held, in a unanimous decision, that under the state’s public records laws any entity that maintains electronic records must disclose those records along with embedded metadata. Lake v. City of Phoenix et al, No. CV-09-0036. 

  • Washington Appellate Court Rules that Destruction of Informational-Only Emails Pursuant to a Records Retention Policy Does not Violate the Public Records Act

    26 Oct 2009 | 4:15 pm
    On October 13, 2009, Washington State Court of Appeals (Division II) affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment in a public records case brought by the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). BIAW sued Pierce County when the County did not produce certain email records that the BIAW had located from a different agency. The court ruled that emails from the Washington Secretary of State’s office to the Pierce County Auditor had been properly deleted pursuant to the applicable retention policies. The Court further held that the State’s Public Records Act (PRA) does…
 
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    UK Freedom of Information Blog

  • Freedom of Information and Royal Household

    19 Nov 2009 | 8:18 am
    The following Early Day Motion was tabled on 18 November 2009 by Lynne Jones MP:83 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LEGISLATION AND ROYAL HOUSEHOLD 18:11:09Lynne JonesNorman BakerMr Ian DavidsonMr Gordon PrenticeDr Doug NaysmithThat this House disagrees with the proposed removal of the public interest test for access through the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to information held by public authorities relating to the Royal Household's function and activities, and with the blanket ban on accessing Royal documents that would result; and instead supports the removal of the exemption of the Royal Household…

  • Ordnance Survey to open up data

    19 Nov 2009 | 5:05 am
    Number 10 website17 Nov 2009The Prime Minister has announced that the public will have more access to Ordnance Survey maps from next year, as part of a government drive to open up data to improve transparency.Communities and Local Government websiteRead more about the Make Public Data Public projectGordon Brown said the government and Ordnance Survey, Great Britain’s national mapping agency, will open up the data relating to electoral and local authority boundaries, postcode areas and mapping information.Mr Brown made the announcement at a Smarter Government seminar at Downing Street this…

  • Obama says access to information a universal right

    17 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am
    Remarks by President Obama at Town Hall Meeting in Shanghai, 16 November 2009:None of this was easy. But we made progress because of our belief in those core principles, which have served as our compass through the darkest of storms. That is why Lincoln could stand up in the midst of civil war and declare it a struggle to see whether any nation, conceived in liberty, and "dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" could long endure. That is why Dr. Martin Luther King could stand on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and ask that our nation live out the true meaning of its…

  • New European register gives public access to information on emissions from industrial facilities

    12 Nov 2009 | 3:22 am
    European Environment AgencyPress release 9 Nov 2009The European Commission and the European Environment Agency today launched a comprehensive new European pollutant release and transfer register – E-PRTR. The register contains information about the quantity and location of pollutants released to air, water and land by industrial facilities throughout Europe. It includes annual data for 91 substances and covers more than 24 000 facilities in 65 economic activities. It also provides additional information, such as the amount and types of waste transferred from facilities to waste handlers…

  • DEFRA must disclose information relating to Lord Hunt and Mayor of London meeting

    10 Nov 2009 | 9:09 am
    The Information Commissioner has ordered DEFRA to disclose information relating to a meeting between the former DEFRA minister Lord Hunt and Mayor of London Boris Johnson. The actual request was for “any minutes, papers, correspondence or other material" relating to the meeting, at which the requester believed the air quality of London and extension of the congestion charging zone were discussed.DEFRA refused to disclose the information citing the exception for internal communications in regulation 12(4)(e) of the Environmental Information Regulations.The IC's decision notice…
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    Kentucky Open Government Blog

  • Appeals court sides with newspaper, rejecting Lexington council's plan to close meeting

    13 Nov 2009 | 3:26 pm
    One of the more routinely abused exceptions to the Kentucky Open Meetings Act is the one that allows closed sessions for "proposed or pending litigation." Today the state Court of Appeals upheld a lower-court ruling that kept the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council from using that as an excuse to close a meeting "to discuss the city's response to a request before the state Public Service Commission by Kentucky American Water to build a $162 million treatment plant and pipeline," reports Andy Mead of the Lexington Herald-Leader.The Herald-Leader objected to the closure, prompting a hearing…

  • AG slaps Nelson ethics board, says Murray economic-development entity isn't public

    9 Nov 2009 | 12:43 pm
    The state attorney general’s office has ruled for the second time in a month that the Joint Board of Ethics for Bardstown, Fairfield and Nelson County has violated the Open Records Act.The latest ruling came in a follow-up to last month’s citation of the board for denying records requested by local resident Marge Brumley about an ethics complaint she filed with the board. Brumley’s husband, Kevin, then asked to see records regarding the disposition of that ethics complaint, which the board refused, citing a local ordinance about cases that had not been finally determined.The attorney…

  • Attorney general rules against city, county agencies

    26 Oct 2009 | 6:39 am
    The Kentucky Attorney General’s office has cited several county and city agencies for holding closed sessions or meetings or refusing requests for public records in a batch of rulings.The office ruled:• A planning committee formed by Shelby County Fiscal Court and the cities of Shelbyville and Simpsonville violated the Open Meetings Act by conducting non-public meetings without notice or minutes. The committee had been created by official action.• The Joint Board of Ethics for the cities of Bardstown and Fairfield and Nelson County failed to observe requirements for conducting closed…

  • Inspector fired after newspaper investigation

    14 Oct 2009 | 7:22 am
    Todd County has fired its restaurant inspector after an investigation by the Kentucky New Era showed he had failed to make required inspections.The Hopkinsville daily reported that county Health Director Leslie Daniels fired environmentalist Malcolm Rust for "insufficient performance" and because of an interview he gave the newspaper in which he said there was "too much work for one person." The newspaper's investigation showed that Rust had often failed to make required inspections. Several restaurants had gone 11 months without an inspection, which the law requires every six months.Rust had…

  • Attorney general rules against airport board, county officials

    13 Oct 2009 | 10:47 am
    The state attorney general's office has ruled the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Board and county officials in Whitley, Crittendon and Nelson counties violated Kentucky's Open Records Act. The airport board ruling came in a case brought by Lexington Herald-Leader reporter Jennifer Hewlett as part of the newspaper's investigation of the board. Hewlett was seeking an unredacted copy of a $10,000 check issued to former airport executive director Michael Gobb. The board had blacked out the name on the check, claiming it included "confidential health information.""In weighing the competing…
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    Sunlight Foundation

  • Local Sunlight

    Nisha Thompson
    20 Nov 2009 | 11:12 am
    Every week I climb into the depths of the local political blogosphere to find the Sunlight. This week I have highlights from Illinois, Louisiana, and Alabama. In Illinois, City Barbs has a transparency rally planned for Monday to ask their local government to clean up their act. The DeKalb Citizens for Transparency sent out a press release saying they will have a rally and march to city hall where they will demand a more transparency government.  There have been corruption issues recently so the band of civic cleaners will march with brooms and vacuum cleaners to get their message heard. …

  • Reid Gives Nelson, Lincoln What Their Lobbyist Friends Want

    Paul Blumenthal
    20 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am
    TPM is reporting that Majority Leader Harry Reid is going to exclude a provision that would remove the anti-trust exemption for health insurers from the Senate health care reform bill. The move is apparently being made to grease the gears for Sen. Ben Nelson, one of three Democratic hold-outs, to vote for procedural motions in the run-up to a final vote. The provision was a huge fear of health insurers, particularly of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Blue Cross Blue Shield. Both of those organizations are represented by former staffers to Sen. Nelson and fellow hold-out Sen.

  • 72 Hours is Now, Again

    John Wonderlich
    20 Nov 2009 | 8:14 am
    The Senate’s version of the health care bill was published on Wednesday, along with its CBO score. Since the first preliminary procedural vote isn’t expected until Saturday evening, it looks likely that the Senate’s bill will see 72 hours in public, online, before its first vote. Senators, their staff, and the public will all have a chance to digest this legislation before its formal floor consideration. While the ReadtheBill.org effort has focused primarily on the House, the same banner was taken up in the Senate in early October, when Senators Lincoln, Bayh, Landrieu,…

  • Evening Links

    Paul Blumenthal
    19 Nov 2009 | 2:21 pm
    1) CQ looks at how getting a seat on the House Ways & Means Committee increases campaign contributions for new members. 2) When asked why non-existent congressional districts appear on Recovery.gov communications director Ed Pound says, “who knows, man, who really knows. There are 130,000 reports out there.” 3) Following in the tradition of Presidents before him Barack Obama rewards big donors with plum ambassadorships. 4) Michael Stern questions the Washington Post’s decision not to fully publish the leaked House Ethics Committee report. 5) Soren Dayton has a contrarian…

  • Transparency, the Internet and Health Care Reform

    Paul Blumenthal
    19 Nov 2009 | 10:29 am
    The Senate health care reform bill (viewable here) contains numerous provisions that stress disclosure and transparency, specifically online disclosure and transparency. These provisions acknowledge that information that is meant to be disclosed and available to the public must be made available online. The bill contains sixty-six uses of the word “Internet,” almost entirely to refer to the online disclosure of information meant for public viewing. The acceptance that disclosure must be made online shows the continued understanding that the Internet is the venue to create trust…
 
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    The Project On Government Oversight

  • Senate Re-Introduces Bill Closing Legal Loophole for Foreign Contractors

    Project On Government Oversight
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:44 pm
    Back in May, POGO blogged about the tragic case of Lt. Col. Dominic "Rocky" Baragona, who was killed in Iraq in 2003 when his Humvee was struck by a supply truck driven by a Kuwaiti transport company that had contracts with the Department of Defense (DoD). Baragona's family filed a lawsuit in federal court against the contractor, Kuwait & Gulf Link Transport Company (KGL), but the court eventually threw it out for lack of jurisdiction.This week, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) re-introduced the “Lieutenant Colonel Dominic ‘Rocky’ Baragona Justice for American Heroes…

  • Morning Smoke: Senators Re-introduce Bill Requiring Foreign Contractors to Consent to "Personal Jurisdiction" in U.S. Courts

    Project On Government Oversight
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:30 am
    Bill would allow foreign contractors to be sued in U.S. courts [Government Executive] McCain wants review on defense work by retired brass [USA Today] John Kerry vs. Blackwater Xe [The Washington Independent] House Attacks Fed, Treasury [The Wall Street Journal] Auditors raise doubts about stimulus numbers, but expect data will improve [Federal Eye] SEC Told to Improve Ways It Chooses Probe Targets [Associated Press] U.S. Financial Regulation Overhaul: Side-by-Side Comparison [Bloomberg]Air Force nominee: Tanker contest will be open [Government Executive]Coast Guard's Deepwater faces…

  • House Financial Services Committee Passes Paul-Grayson Amendment to Audit the Fed

    Project On Government Oversight
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:07 am
    The House Financial Services Committee voted 43-26 yesterday afternoon in favor of an amendment introduced by Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Alan Grayson (D-FL) that would remove restrictions preventing the GAO from auditing the Federal Reserve. The amendment was modeled after Rep. Paul’s long-standing bill to audit the Fed, which was co-sponsored by over 300 Members in the House and supported by POGO and many other groups.The vote on the final passage of the financial regulatory package to which the Paul-Grayson amendment is attached has been delayed until after Thanksgiving. Nonetheless,…

  • Ineligible Firms Receiving Contracts Intended for Service-Disabled Vets

    Project On Government Oversight
    19 Nov 2009 | 1:27 pm
    Today, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report documenting lax oversight controls and fraud related to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) contracts. The GAO report was released at a hearing before the House Committee on Small Business held by Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez. GAO’s review found:1. Ineligible firms improperly received approximately $100 million in SDVOSB contracts and an additional $300 million in contracts set-aside for other small businesses. Some of those contractors were not even eligible for…

  • What Happens When an Ethics Tree Falls in an Earless Forest, and Other Lessons from a Bid Protest Sustained by GAO

    Project On Government Oversight
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:41 pm
    A recently sustained bid protest from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that a contractor did indeed get an unfair competitive advantage when they hired a former government employee to prepare their proposal and failed to disclose the information to the contracting official. The allegations were brought forward by Health Net Federal Services in a protest of the award of a recent TRICARE (which provides civilian health benefits for military personnel, military retirees, and their dependents, and some members of the Reserve Component) contract to Aetna Government Health Plans…
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    WordPress Tag: Open Government

  • The Fallacy of Adobe's "Open Government" Whitepaper?

    Bruce Kraus
    14 Nov 2009 | 7:56 am
    This is Not Open Government Adobe, in their “open government” whitepaper (which, of course, is a PDF): “Since the advent of the web, an entire infrastructure has evolved to enable public access to information. Such technologies include HTML, Adobe PDF, and Adobe® Flash® technology.” Clay Johnson (Director of Sunlight Labs) responds: “This is nonsense. The fact is, sticking to open, standards based technologies like HTML, XML, JSON and others are far more important and useful in getting your information out to the public than the proprietary formats of Adobe. Here’s a…

  • Open the Internet - Public Hearing on Net Neutrality

    nycctechcomm
    13 Nov 2009 | 12:51 am
    Committee Aims to Review Current Net Neutrality Rules CITY HALL, NEW YORK – On Friday, November 20, 2009 at 10 a.m. in the Committee Room of City Hall, the New York City Council Committee on Technology in Government will hold a public hearing regarding the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) six principles of Net Neutrality.  This hearing seeks to gain insight into these principles, which the FCC seeks to codify. The November 20 hearing will assess whether the Net Neutrality principles as articulated would effectively obtain the goal of maintaining a free and open…

  • Nie mehr langweilige Daten - Hans Rosling und TED

    Der Heiße Scheiß
    12 Nov 2009 | 10:21 am
    Wie furchtbar klingt schon alllein die Formulierung “statistische Erhebungen”? Wie sehr erschreckt man bei der Anfrage nach faktischer Analyse von der Bedeutung und Zusammensetzung der Familienstruktur in Beziehung zu Gesundheit und Wohlstand innerhalb der letzten 50 Jahre? Ich hoffe Ihr stimmt mir zu, wenn Ihr dieses Video gesehen habt: Es ist leicht sich für denselben Inhalt zu begeistern wenn die Information gut aufbereitet wurde. Bühne frei für Hans Rosling bei TED. [Tip: Wer sich für Bildung begeistert und Schule nicht mag sollte regelmäßig TED schauen] PS: Daher auch…

  • Civic groups call for sunlight in development process

    khosen
    9 Nov 2009 | 6:21 pm
    What you see at a rezoning can be very different than what you get when the project is built. Civic

  • Lt. Governor inventing excuses as to why "stimulus" webpage is not being updated

    charliecopeland
    5 Nov 2009 | 2:41 pm
    WBOC 16, a Southern Delaware News Station, had an interview with the Lt. Governor a week ago about D
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    Sunlight Labs blog

  • Mighty Tiny Thomas

    Clay Johnson
    19 Nov 2009 | 1:21 pm
    This post is from Sunlight's Policy Counsel, Daniel Schuman who normally blogs on the Sunlight Foundation Blog. A few months ago, I posted a request on Sunlight Lab's wiki for someone to build a web tool that would make the links on Congress's legislative website, THOMAS, permanent. Although it seems odd, when users look up legislative information on THOMAS, such as bills and committee reports, they usually cannot bookmark or share the links because the URL goes dead after a couple of hours. I had little faith that someone would answer my request to build permalinks, but Asa Hopkins has done…

  • Recovery.gov's Success

    Clay Johnson
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:18 pm
    We spend a lot of time talking about how Government does a lot wrong with data. And we harass them and complain a lot to the extent that even I get on my own nerves. But the fact is, the people and programmers working on these projects on the inside are neither malicious nor incompetent. The problem isn't people, but a weird system of priorities and incentives that often leaves the citizen short-handed. After all, transparency isn't even an inkling the constitution (yet!) and I'm fairly certain that the framers of our constitution weren't really considering data portability when they drafted…

  • FederalReporting.gov: Recovery.gov's Dirty Little Secret

    Clay Johnson
    17 Nov 2009 | 8:29 am
    FederalReporting.gov: Recovery.gov's Dirty Little Secret The press would have you believe that Recovery.gov is an $18MM website that collects loan, contract, and grant data from recipients and shows it to end users. But that's only half true in a lot of ways. First-- while it is true that Recovery.gov's contract totalled $17,948,518, it isn't accurate to call it an $18,000,000 website yet-- about half of that money is in contractual options. The government agreed to spend $9,516,324 on getting the new Recovery.gov up and running, and then asked (in the RFP) Smartronix what three years of…

  • Congress: There's An (Android) App For That

    Eric
    16 Nov 2009 | 8:14 am
    Our Android app, "Congress", is now published in the Android Market, for free. As I said in the beta release post, Congress is a pocket Congressional directory that takes full advantage of the Sunlight Labs API. You can install it by visiting the Market, or scan the QR code in this post to take you right there. The features: Up-to-date info about members of Congress. Find members of Congress by using your phone's location, a zipcode, a last name, or a state. Read tweets and watch videos from members' Twitter and YouTube accounts. Reply to a member of Congress on Twitter from within the app,…

  • Get your act together, Data.gov

    Clay Johnson
    13 Nov 2009 | 11:38 am
    On May 21st, we launched Apps for America 2: the Data.gov Challenge-- the very same day that Federal CIO Vivek Kundra & Company launched data.gov. On May 26th, Kundra announced that there were hundreds of thousands of data sources just around the corner. It is now November 13th, 2009. Right now the Raw Data Catalog in data.gov stands at an even 600 feeds. What's worse, the data is chunked up into small little bits, making 600 not a particularly exciting number. For instance, nearly half the datasets (293/600) in the raw data catalog are toxics release inventory datasets, broken up into…
 
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    MaineOpenGov Blog

  • Sen. Elizabeth "Libby" Mitchell wants it both ways

    Administrator
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:11 am
    Senate President and Gubernatorial candidate Libby Mitchell (D), as well as Blaine House hopeful Senator Peter Mills (R) are upset because there isn't enough taxpayer dollars to fund their personal campaigns for the state's top job. The two candidates, among others, are running "clean", with clean elections funds that are drawn from taxpayer dollars. Each candidate will get $400,000 for the primary and $600,000 for the general election initially and could receive up to double that amount in matching funds. So Sen. Mitchell and Sen. Mills want to use your money to run their campaigns, but…

  • UMaine "cost saving plan" spends additional millions

    Administrator
    17 Nov 2009 | 6:35 am
    With budget gaps at every turn, the UMaine Chancellor was tasked with finding areas within the system to save millions, $43 million in the next couple years in fact. Today chancellor Richard Pattenaude and the UMaine trustees offered their solution, a plan title "The University of Maine system and the future of Maine".In this plan they outling various ways to save money, including enrolling more online students, a three-year degree program, and some other cost saving measures. Also included in the text is the idea that tution will not rise more than 6 percent between now and 2013. The most…

  • Read up on the so called Health Care "Reform"

    Administrator
    6 Nov 2009 | 6:38 am
    This is a state government blog. But without question, the HR 3962 bill, or the health care "reform" bill, that will be voted on soon by our U.S. House of Representatives, has a huge impact on Maine and it's businesses and people. We're posting about the bill here in the name of greater overall government transparency.So what exactly does the bill do, and how should Reps. Pingree and Michaud vote on the bill? Take a look yourself and then let them know. HR 3962 Summary (read it and weep): "Complete Summary" A couple excerpts (warning, some readers will find this offensive. May not be…

  • The 2009 Maine Piglet Book makes some noise

    Administrator
    28 Sep 2009 | 9:22 am
    The 2009 Maine Piglet Book hit with a bang last Thursday. The Bangor Daily News story ran above the fold and the KJ and Portland Press Herald stories were featured along with the Morning Sentinal piece, while the books release was also featured on several local TV news broadcasts, including My Fox Maine and WGME-Portland (below) and WABI-Bangor (CBS). Opponents of the Yes on 4 (TABOR) campaign have tried to discredit the book, and defend government spending. They say the $102,000 for 3 dog paintings in a Kennebunk rest stop are "privately funded" - but what they are not saying is that…

  • 2009 Maine Piglet Book

    Administrator
    24 Sep 2009 | 1:42 pm
    Today The Maine Heritage Policy Center and Citizens Against Government Waste released the 2009 Maine Piglet Book, which details at least $2 billion in Maine government waste. Some of the highlights (or lowlights) in the book:$82,533 for bottled water in 2008. $20,000 to produce "My Fair Lady" in an Ogunquit playhouse.$155,000,000 on the failed government-run Dirigo health program.I'll blog about the reaction to the 2009 Piglet Book in the next couple days.
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    FOI Oklahoma

  • State employees group files criminal complaint alleging Open Meeting Act violation by state mental health board

    21 Nov 2009 | 10:05 am
    A state employees group has filed a criminal complaint accusing the state mental health board of violating the Open Meeting Act when it approved a plan to lay off 100 employees, close centers and eliminate state's mental health beds for children.Those actions were not listed on the board's Nov. 13 agenda.Instead, the plan to cut the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services budget by $7.3 million was included in a monthly financial report.The agenda item read, "Discussion and possible action regarding monthly financial report.”Officials later told The Oklahoman that the…

  • State mental health board agenda doesn’t mention plan to lay off 100 employees, close centers and eliminate state’s mental health beds for children

    15 Nov 2009 | 1:18 pm
    Public bodies were cautioned in September not to use “cryptic” agenda language to hide what they will do in a meeting.“Don’t try to hide items of business by putting it under ‘report,’” warned the head of the state Attorney General's General Counsel Section.The Attorney General’s Office prefers for such reports “to have bulleted points for items under the report,” said Gay Tudor during an open government workshop for public officials in September.Members of the board governing the state’s mental health department must have missed that workshop. So must have the staff for…

  • Open Government Pledge signers elected to Tulsa mayor's office and three more seats on City Council

    12 Nov 2009 | 12:19 pm
    Three signers of FOI Oklahoma Inc.’s Open Government Pledge won seats on the Tulsa City Council and a fourth was elected as the city's mayor in the municipal election Tuesday.A fifth signer, Republican Bill Christiansen, was re-elected to his Tulsa City Council District 8 seat in the Sept. 8 primary.Each has pledged that the city's government "will comply with not only the letter but also the spirit of Oklahoma's Open Meeting and Open Records laws.”Mayor-elect Dewey Bartlett Jr. and the council members take office Dec. 7.Of the nine council districts, four will be represented by…

  • Judge allows TV and newspaper Web site cameras in courtroom for pharmacist's murder trial

    5 Nov 2009 | 10:02 am
    Oklahoma television stations and a newspaper's Web site will be allowed to have cameras in the courtroom during the trial of a pharmacist charged with killing a would-be robber, an Oklahoma County district judge ruled today.Judge Tammy Bass-LeSure granted a request from KWTV and KFOR in Oklahoma City and KOTV in Tulsa to televise Jerome Jay Erlsand's murder trial after the jury is selected.The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com also will be allowed to take photos inside the courtroom and to show the trial on the newspaper's Web site, the judge said.No trial date has been set."Permitting news coverage…

  • Grady and Wagoner counties' fees for digital copies of assessments databases violate Open Records Act

    5 Nov 2009 | 9:44 am
    Grady County's fee for an electronic copy of its database of all real property assessments violates the state Open Records Act, a district judge ruled Monday.The county assessor’s practice of charging 5 cents for the first 25,000 records and 2 cents thereafter was “not limited to recovering only the reasonable, direct costs of record copying and any necessary record search,” said Judge Richard G. Van Dyck in a judgment and injunction issued Nov. 2. (Hurlbert v. Firestone, CJ-08-00790 (Grady Co.))Another district judge ruled against Wagoner County's assessor for the same reason in…
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    BBC: Open Secrets

  • Released documents contain nothing controversial

    Martin Rosenbaum (BBC News)
    20 Nov 2009 | 4:45 am
    If you want to make an information request to the EU's directorate-general for employment, its webform asks you to indicate which of the 27 member states you are from. Strangely it also offers you one other option - you can say you come from Wales. Why the employment DG has made this unique concession to Welsh nationalism is not immediately obvious. But this is one of the intriguing minor mysteries about the operation of the European Commission's access to information processes which is revealed in a report published yesterday by the campaign group Access Info Europe [1.32MB PDF]. Access Info…

  • Sweden's stinging nettle

    Martin Rosenbaum (BBC News)
    18 Nov 2009 | 12:24 am
    Sweden has had a freedom of information law for nearly 250 years - in fact, since its Freedom of the Press Act of 1766. Tell people that date and they often think you've got the century wrong, by one if not two hundred years. Everywhere else in the world, FOI is a phenomenon of the past 50 years. This Swedish tradition of transparency has had a powerful effect on the country's culture in many ways, as for example the BBC recently reported on Parliamentary expenses. But how and why did Sweden adopt this principle so far ahead of any other state? It arose out of a period in eighteenth-century…

  • The writing of Gordon Brown

    Martin Rosenbaum (BBC News)
    13 Nov 2009 | 12:30 am
    The quality of Gordon Brown's handwriting and spelling has been a big feature of the news this week, following the letter of condolence he sent to Jacqui Janes whose son was killed in Afghanistan. His writing is adversely affected by his poor eyesight, which stems from the childhood rugby injury that left him blind in one eye. But how much has it changed over the decades? It's taken me a little time to search through the collection of documents the BBC obtained under freedom of information from Edinburgh University about the period Mr Brown was Rector there in the 1970s. He was elected to…

  • Immigration risks and FOI

    Martin Rosenbaum (BBC News)
    9 Nov 2009 | 9:43 am
    The Conservatives are accusing Labour ministers of trying to cover up failings in immigration policy because of the way the Home Office responded to a freedom of information request. This follows a story in the Sunday Times about how immigration officials had been allowed "to take risks" when tackling a backlog of applications to live in the UK. This article was based on a Home Office FOI disclosure. It's been followed up in the media elsewhere. The shadow home secretary Chris Grayling told the House of Commons: "More and more evidence is now emerging to suggest that the government broke…

  • Saudi arms and the big chill

    Martin Rosenbaum (BBC News)
    2 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am
    Winter is approaching, and it's getting cold in Whitehall - uncomfortably so, for some. There's an icy gale blowing through the offices of public authorities, and it's driven by freedom of information - that anyway is the view of some FOI-sceptics in officialdom. While many others are worried about global warming, these people are concerned about the "chilling effect" - the idea that publicly disclosing internal discussions would inhibit officials from giving free and frank advice in future. But how cold really are the resulting temperatures? These arguments are often central to assessing…
 
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    Secrecy News

  • China’s Navy Makes “Impressive” Strides, Says ONI

    Steven Aftergood
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:59 am
    An ongoing modernization effort has provided China with an increasingly sophisticated and proficient naval force, the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) said in a new assessment (large pdf). Notably, China has “developed the world’s only anti-ship ballistic missile,” which ONI said was “specifically designed to defeat U.S. carrier strike groups” in the event of military conflict over Taiwan. “China’s modernization efforts have principally focused on preparing for a Taiwan conflict, with a large portion directed at developing capabilities to…

  • The Rise of China’s Auto Industry

    Steven Aftergood
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:52 am
    “In recent years, China has become the world’s fastest growing automotive producer,” according to a new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service. “[China's] annual vehicle output has increased from less than 2 million vehicles in the late 1990s to 9.5 million in 2008. In terms of production volume in 2008, China has surpassed Korea, France, Germany, and the United States, trailing only Japan.” “China’s automobile industry has continued to expand despite the global economic downturn. From January to October 2009, more than 10 million vehicles were…

  • Legal Issues Surrounding Military Commissions

    Steven Aftergood
    18 Nov 2009 | 12:04 pm
    The role of military commissions in adjudicating the cases of suspected terrorist detainees at Guantanamo and elsewhere was critically examined in two House Judiciary Subcommittee hearings last July, the records of which have just been published. “My concern remains,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who chaired the hearings, “that we may be creating a system in which we try you in Federal court if we have strong evidence, we try you by military commission if we have weak evidence, and we detain you indefinitely if we have no evidence.” “That is not a justice…

  • 2010 Army Weapon Systems Handbook

    Steven Aftergood
    18 Nov 2009 | 12:03 pm
    The U.S. Army has published the latest edition of its Army Weapon Systems handbook, cataloging dozens of Army weapons with descriptive information, status updates, contractor relationships, and images. “The systems listed in this book are not isolated, individual products,” the introduction says. “Rather, they are part of an integrated investment approach to make the Army of the future able to deal successfully with the challenges it will face.” “We have received extraordinary funding support through wartime Overseas Contingency Operations funds, but they have…

  • A Critical Look at Navy v. Egan

    Steven Aftergood
    16 Nov 2009 | 6:29 am
    A 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Department of the Navy v. Egan has often been interpreted to support broad presidential authority over national security generally and over access to classified information in particular.  Along with United States v. Reynolds, Curtiss-Wright, and a few other cases, Egan is regularly cited in support of strong, even unchecked executive authority and judicial deference to executive claims.  It has become a cornerstone of national security law as practiced today. But the case has often been misunderstood and misrepresented, according to a new study…
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    Electronic Records - Local Open Government Blog

  • Washington State Archives Publishes Records Management Advice Regarding Blogs, Wikis, Facebook and Twitter

    4 Nov 2009 | 5:12 pm
    The Washington State Archives recently published a records management advice sheet entitled “Electronic Records Management: Blogs, Wikis, Facebook, Twitter & Managing Public Records” that provides guidance to state and local government agencies regarding the retention of public records of posts to social networking websites such as blogs, wikis, Facebook, and Twitter.  The advice sheet provides five (5) factors for agencies to consider when managing the retention of public records created or received through social networking sites. These factors include determining…

  • Washington Appellate Court Rules that Destruction of Informational-Only Emails Pursuant to a Records Retention Policy Does not Violate the Public Records Act

    26 Oct 2009 | 4:15 pm
    On October 13, 2009, Washington State Court of Appeals (Division II) affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment in a public records case brought by the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW). BIAW sued Pierce County when the County did not produce certain email records that the BIAW had located from a different agency. The court ruled that emails from the Washington Secretary of State’s office to the Pierce County Auditor had been properly deleted pursuant to the applicable retention policies. The Court further held that the State’s Public Records Act (PRA) does…

  • Disclosure + Internet = Threat to Democracy?

    30 Jul 2009 | 2:53 am
    Update 8/3 Here's an update from the Open Records Blog -- a great blog that tracks state public records issues nation wide -- on the R-71 controversy.  The Post also provides Tim Eyman's perspective on the issue.  Update 7/30 As noted by the Seattle Times, a Federal Judge has issued an injunction prohibiting the State from releasing the names of the persons who signed the R-71 petition.  According to the Times: Judge Settle . . . gave what appears to be a nod to the strength of the referendum backers' case, writing that they "have sufficiently demonstrated a…

  • Transparent government or Translucent government?

    12 Jul 2009 | 1:43 pm
    As governments put more and more information on the web, governments should be focused on how to make that information usable to help the public understand how it relates the decision-making process.  As noted in this post, Transparent or Translucent, simply loading data onto websites can serve to obscure how governments make decisions  rather than give the public access to how and why those decisions are made.  This can result in translucent government, not transparent government.   

  • Guidance from Down Under on Government Use of Web 2.0 Sites

    12 Jul 2009 | 1:27 pm
    Australia has some of the most sophisticated and advanced laws on document retention and access. Therefore, it was not surprising to find this guidance on records retentions issues for government web 2.0 sites coming from the Australian government:  Records Management and Web 2.0  
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