National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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SC: Judge deciding if Horry County should release files of former officers, records of sexual assault complaints against police

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A circuit court judge will decide this week whether to force the Horry County Police Department to release the personnel files of two former officers to a lawyer representing a woman who has accused former detective Allen Large of sexual assault.

The attorney is also seeking citizen complaints and internal affairs files about all HCPD employees accused of making unwanted sexual advances or sexual abuse.

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Montana Supreme Court orders lower court review in case U. of Montana student

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The Montana State Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to review the disciplinary records related to a former University of Montana student and determine which, if any, can be released to author Jon Krakauer.

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VA: Gas industry seeks regulations delay, FOIA exemption for fracking

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The gas industry is pushing for a delay in new Virginia drilling regulations until it can get state law changed to protect key information about chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.

These regulations, the result of a review that started at the end of 2013, are slated to be finalized shortly before the end of the year. Industry lobbyists this week asked legislators on a commission that monitors the executive branch's regulatory process to help delay implementation until at least July 2017.

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Miami Herald sues county for records disclosing location of Zika mosquitoes

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The Miami Herald filed suit Friday against Miami-Dade County seeking to force the county to disclose records showing the locations where mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus have been trapped.

Miami Beach residents need to know where the mosquitoes have been found so they can intelligently debate whether spraying a controversial insecticide over “the entirety of a 1.5 square mile densely populated area” is justified, the lawsuit said, asking for a quick hearing in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.

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PA: Public wants police complaint records, videos

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With the public demanding greater access to police documents and videos, two cases in the Lehigh Valley area could help shape legal precedent about what records must be released.

A Northampton County judge will decide whether the public is entitled to see complaints filed by citizens against a police officer. That case stems from a Bethlehem resident's request for complaint and disciplinary records about a Bethlehem officer.

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KY Public radio sues U of Louisville Foundation

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Louisville Public Media and Kentucky Public Radio have sued the University of Louisville Foundation claiming that it has failed to comply with Kentucky Open Records Law.

In the suit filed Thursday in Jefferson Circuit Court, the media company that runs WFPL and the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting claims that it requested documents from the foundation in February and that the foundation didn't respond within the three business days allowable under the law. Then, the foundation claimed that some of the document requests were too burdensome.

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Press Release: USDA Announces New Open Data Partnership for Public Health

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NEW YORK – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today officially launched the USDA Branded Food Products Database, a free online resource for families, the food industry and researchers containing nutrition details on more than 80,000 name brand prepared and packaged foods available at restaurants and grocery stores. The announcement was made at the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) Summit.

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Department of Health and Human Services Issues New Rules To Open Up Data From Clinical Trials

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Universities and drug companies that use human volunteers for research face tough new rules designed to make sure that valuable information from these volunteers is widely available, not only to the volunteers themselves but to scientists trying to advance medical science.

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Texas court mulls ‘magic words’ loophole for transparency law

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The Supreme Court of Texas heard arguments Wednesday on whether to write a loophole into state public records law that would allow government agencies to avoid public scrutiny and disregard basic public records procedures simply by invoking “magic words.”

The court could also decide to eliminate a previous loophole it created, but most of its public records decisions in recent years have favored government secrecy over the transparency that Texas law used to be known for.

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