A D.C. Council committee roundtable chaired by Vincent Orange (D-At Large) on July 13 listened to a crowded hearing room packed with residents angry about illegal construction and weak consumer protection by city regulators in the Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs (DCRA).
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Now that we have achieved Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reforms in the United States, it's critical that we use what we've learned over the past decade of releasing data online to improve not only the process but public knowledge itself. Our Congress has once again affirmed that accessing information is a right, not a privilege, and that the right is enjoyed by all citizens — not just media or industry players with advantage or influence.
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President Barack Obama recently signed a law to improve the Freedom of Information Act, but the Senate Judiciary Committee heard Tuesday that the all-time low for unfulfilled requests occurred just last year.
The committee chaired by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, convened this morning to look at FOIA 50 years after its adoption by President Lyndon Johnson. Continue…
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North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed a bill into law on Monday that makes police dashboard camera and body camera footage exempt from the public record.
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Read More… from Police Camera Footage Will No Longer Be Made Public In North Carolina
The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit today against the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for delaying for months the release of emails related to the Flint water crisis.
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State lawmakers continued their search Tuesday for ways to help cities, counties, school districts and other government agencies deal with increasing demands for large volumes of public records, some of those from people whose motives they question.
Lawmakers earlier this year refused to pass a bill that would have let local governments limit how much time employees spend processing requests and to prioritize the order in which they are handled. Continue...
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Read More… from Washington: Public records remain a challenge for lawmakers
The Brigham Young University Police Department has "full-spectrum" law enforcement authority under state law: Sworn officers may stop, search, arrest and use physical force against people.
But BYU police do not face the same requirements for transparency as officers across the state: The department is not subject to the state's open-records laws, according to a decision by state record administrators. Continue…
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Read More… from Salt Lake Tribune sues, says BYU police should have to release records
"We have reached a tipping point – a crisis situation – when it comes to freedom of information in this country. We are frogs in the kettle of slowly heating water," the head of the UA Journalism School, David Cuillier, told Congress on Tuesday.
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"Are you registered to vote?" Dave Tessitor asked a man as he walked past the library in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
"Yes," the man said, not stopping.
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Read More… from Pittsburgh group aims to write citizens into the middle of government
Every Maryland journalist who has filed a freedom of information request or challenged efforts by officials to keep public deliberations secret owes a debt of gratitude to Jim Keat, who passed away July 6 after a prolonged bout with cancer.
Keat passionately detested public secrecy. He led the fight to enlarge and put teeth in Maryland’s Opening Meetings Act and its Freedom of Information Act. Continue…
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