National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Posts by NFOIC

Editorial: Washington Judge’s order imperils journalistic independence

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A King County judge’s order that The Seattle Times and other media must turn over unpublished content to the police is a blow to independent journalism. The order imperils journalists documenting this summer’s historic protests and sends the wrong message about the media as a check on government power. Journalists’ unique role and responsibility is […]

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PA governor allows government transparency legislation to become law

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Despite opposing a bill he rebuked as “foolish” and “thoughtless,” Governor Tom Wolf let House Bill 2463 become law without his signature on Sunday. The bill passed unanimously in the state house and senate earlier this month. The bill would require state agencies to respond to RTK requests with procedures established by the Office of […]

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N.Y. Judge temporarily blocks public release of Buffalo Police disciplinary records

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A State Supreme Court judge has temporarily blocked the public release of individual disciplinary records for Buffalo Police and Buffalo firefighters for allegations that are pending or unsubstantiated. Hon. Frank Sedita III issued the decision Friday after the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association and the Buffalo Professional Firefighters Association filed a claim Wednesday saying that the […]

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Democracy, accountability and empowerment: The case for journalism as a gen-ed course

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As the availability of journalism jobs decreases, the future of the discipline might depend more on general education. Recent racist incidents and police violence have been caught on video, uploaded to social media and viewed millions of times, sparking protests and outrage and accelerating diversity agendas at colleges and universities. In most of those incidents, […]

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Hawaii passes police reform bill that discloses names of suspended officers

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The Legislature passed a police reform bill Monday that would make public the identities of police officers who have been suspended or discharged, putting them on equal footing with other public agency employees. House Judiciary Chairman Chris Lee said the bill would reverse a decision made 25 years ago to withhold the names of officers […]

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Texas AG rules HHSC should release COVID-19 nursing home data

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office ruled the Texas Health and Human Services Commission should disclose most of its data on COVID-19 in nursing homes to the public, according to a July 6 ruling. Paxton’s office rejected most of the arguments the commission made to conceal COVID-19 outbreak data related to nursing homes, according to […]

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‘Marsy’s Law,’ Public Records Law Clash in Police Case

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The city of Tallahassee and media organizations tried to persuade a circuit judge that a 2018 constitutional amendment aimed at protecting victims’ rights does not allow police officers involved in use-of-force incidents to keep their identities secret. The arguments came in a lawsuit filed by the Florida Police Benevolent Association asserting that the constitutional amendment […]

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Georgia health agency stymies requests for public records during pandemic

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In the first four months of COVID-19 when Georgia saw more than 84,000 confirmed cases and nearly 3,000 deaths, journalists, advocates and lawyers submitted more than 40 records requests for emails about the Department of Public Health’s response to the pandemic. The requesters sought emails regarding the state’s allocation of resources, Gov. Brian Kemp’s April […]

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Can Civilian Oversight Change Police Behavior?

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Since the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25th, the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) has fielded about ten times its normal four to five monthly requests from community groups and municipalities on establishing new police oversight bodies. At the same time, dozens more local governments are puzzling […]

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