National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

Author: NFOIC

Profile picture of NFOIC
Website
https://nfoic.org

Posts by NFOIC

Virginia governor pushes for secrecy of execution drugs

Posted on

Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Monday that he has proposed keeping secret the identities of pharmacies that supply lethal-injection drugs for executions, instead of changing the law to force inmates to die in the electric chair if there are no available drugs.

McAuliffe stripped the contentious electric-chair provision from a bill and vowed to veto the measure if lawmakers reintroduce it. He warned that unless Virginia shields lethal-injection-drug manufacturers from public scrutiny, capital punishment in the state will come to a halt.

[…]

Read More… from Virginia governor pushes for secrecy of execution drugs

Uncovering information about police misconduct might soon get easier in California

Posted on

California has some of the strictest laws in the U.S. against publicly releasing information about officer discipline.

State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) says recent high-profile clashes between police departments and the communities they serve show that now is the time to change the rules. Leno has introduced SB 1286, which would unravel some of the protections against releasing officer information. His push for transparency is generally supported by police reform advocates as a way to improve police-community relations.

[…]

Read More… from Uncovering information about police misconduct might soon get easier in California

Colorado senate committee passes bill to encourage state government whistleblowers

Posted on

A bill to encourage state government whistleblowers won the endorsement of a Senate committee Monday, despite fears that private information could be made vulnerable to security breaches.

Under the amended version of SB 16-056, state employees couldn’t be disciplined for revealing confidential information while reporting instances of waste, mismanagement of public funds or abuses of authority to the state attorney general’s office.

[…]

Read More… from Colorado senate committee passes bill to encourage state government whistleblowers

Culture of concealment protects New York City police officers

Posted on

When Glen Grays was inexplicably handcuffed and hauled off by the police in Brooklyn on March 17 while delivering the mail on his route in Crown Heights, the world soon learned a bit about him.

At a news conference given by Eric L. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, at which a video of the encounter was made public, Mr. Grays’s mother explained that she had six sons and worried about all of them.

[…]

Read More… from Culture of concealment protects New York City police officers

The debate in California over how owners can use LLCs to obscure their identities

Posted on

Delaware and Nevada aren't the only states where it's possible to set up a company without saying who owns it.

In California, too, owners can set up a limited liability company, or LLC, without telling state officials who's behind the curtain.

That anonymity has come under close scrutiny since the release this week of the so-called Panama Papers, which revealed that dozens of global politicians hid assets in offshore shell companies set up by a Panamanian law firm.

[…]

Read More… from The debate in California over how owners can use LLCs to obscure their identities

California’s Public Records Act intended to ensure openness, not provide excuses

Posted on

Is it legitimate for a public institution to stall public record act requests in the heat of ongoing media coverage of a controversy?

I suspect plenty of crisis management consultants would say absolutely yes. Yet in California we have a Public Records Act intended to protect the public interest and ensure transparency.

The spirit of that act means the answer should be a resounding “No.” Continue…

[…]

Read More… from California’s Public Records Act intended to ensure openness, not provide excuses

Texas officials’ personal email addresses open to public, court says

Posted on

Public officials who use private email accounts to conduct official business cannot conceal their personal email addresses when releasing public information, a state appeals court ruled Friday.

The question dates back to 2011, when The Austin Bulldog, an independent online news site, filed several open records requests asking for all emails regarding city business between the Austin mayor, city council members and the city manager, according to court papers.

[…]

Read More… from Texas officials’ personal email addresses open to public, court says

New Jersey pays gun rights group $100K in State Police permit case

Posted on

The state Attorney General's Office has paid a New Jersey gun rights group $101,626 in legal costs and released documents describing the state's firearms background check process after fighting their disclosure in court for years.

The payment was ordered by a judge after a lengthy legal battle between the state and the New Jersey Second Amendment Society, which was seeking the State Police's guide for local departments performing checks on those applying for gun permits.

[…]

Read More… from New Jersey pays gun rights group $100K in State Police permit case

Op-ed: Sanctions for offshore havens, transparency at home

Posted on

The United States needs to do much more to crack down on offshore tax evasion and financial opacity.

It should impose clear sanctions on the territories that allow rogue financial institutions to operate. Promoting financial opacity pays off for places like the British Virgin Islands, Panama and the Cayman Islands where hundreds of thousands of shell companies are domiciled.

[…]

Read More… from Op-ed: Sanctions for offshore havens, transparency at home