National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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How an Ohio judge’s ruling threatens journalists’ ability to cover the court system

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An attorney has a civil case that’s about to go to trial. He contacts a friend of his, the editor of a local publication, to encourage coverage of the case. The attorney shares public court records and information about the court schedule. The case is newsworthy, and on the eve of trial the editor’s publication runs a story that outlines the claims of the attorney’s clients.

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Georgia: CRIME Newspaper Publisher Thrown in Jail Over Open Records Fight — Read the Indictment

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A rural North Georgia journalist was indicted on a felony charge and jailed overnight last week, all for filing an open-records request.

Mark Thomason, publisher of the Fannin Focus, a local paper, and his attorney Russell Stookey were jailed Friday of last week and charged with identity fraud and attempted identity fraud. Additionally, Thomason was accused of lying in his open-records request. Continue…

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The Freedom of Information Act—and the Hero Who Pioneered It

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The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) turns 50 years old on July 4, 2016. The landmark bill, signed into law by a reluctant Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, gave the public unprecedented access to government documents. Like many great American contributions to democracy, it was the project of a lone crusader, opposed by the leading politicians of the day until it finally became law, then fully embraced on paper but never more than half-realized in reality.

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The high cost of government transparency in Oregon (Column)

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Last year, The Oregonian/OregonLive requested an electronic database of property recorded into evidence by the Portland Police Bureau. The estimated cost of making those public records public?

$1,042,450.20.

It was a bit out of our price range. Continue…

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ACLJ Files FOIA Lawsuit Against Obama Administration, Seeks Records on Iran Negotiation Cover-up

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Today, the ACLJ filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. State Department, demanding that it follow the law and provide key records shedding light on its cover-up of the Obama Administration’s Iran lie.

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Court rules Missouri Senate may block the recording of public meetings

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A liberal advocacy group has no right to record public meetings of Missouri Senate committees, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The Missouri Western District Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Progress Missouri that argued the state Senate violated the Sunshine Law when it repeatedly blocked the group from recording public committee hearings. Continue…

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