WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 2021 D.C. Open Government Summit will examine public and charter school transparency, the coronavirus pandemic’s ongoing impact on government records access, and the views regarding government transparency of two recently elected City Council members. This year, the annual Sunshine Week event – sponsored by the D.C. Open Government Coalition; the Society […]
This year’s Openness in Government (Opee) Awards recognize Wisconsin’s largest newspaper for its dogged records-based coverage of the pandemic and its commitment to the cause of transparency in government, as well as a government agency that led the way in providing a maximum amount of information on COVID-19. Other winners include a municipal judge who […]
Read More… from Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council names ‘Opee’ winners
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Coalition for Open Government (MiCOG) has selected Steve Delie as its first executive director, bringing on board an attorney who specializes in open government issues at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy to further MiCOG’s mission of making government more accountable to citizens. The appointment comes just before the start […]
Read More… from Michigan open government group names first executive director as Sunshine Week nears
A Virginia bill, if signed by the governor, will open more law enforcement records to public inspection. The legislation will open inactive or completed criminal investigative files. Open records and criminal justice advocates say law enforcement agencies have concealed their files, frustrating efforts to hold police accountable and to overturn wrongful convictions. “Departments all over […]
Read More… from Virginia bill opens inactive criminal investigative files to public
Kentucky House Bill 312 has open government advocates on high alert. The bill would strip the courts of the ability to decide which legislative records must be made public, leaving such decisions to 16 members of the House and Senate. It “lets the fox guard the henhouse,” opponents of the legislation say. The bill also […]
Read More… from Kentucky bill raises alarms for letting the ‘fox guard the henhouse’
The Georgia First Amendment Foundation says the school district intentionally delayed access to public records based on erroneous interpretation of state law. To read more, click here. […]
Read More… from Georgia coalition joins parent’s fight to access school’s COVID-19 data
“The undersigned civil society organizations write to urge you to take bold presidential action now to carry out your pledge to ‘bring transparency and truth back to government.’” Signed by 43 organizations, including @NFOIC. http://ow.ly/wSjA50DGu9U […]
Read More… from NFOIC signs letter to President Biden: Bring back transparency
D.C. Open Government Coalition board member Sandra Moscoso is writing a series of posts about open government. This is part of a series that will become a case study in the D.C. Open Government Coalition’s 2021 open government education and training program. They will post information soon early next year about how to enroll. In the […]
Read More… from D.C. coalition: COVID-19 spreads, but still no data
WASHINGTON— More than a dozen conservation and transparency groups called on the new Congress today to fix systemic issues and close loopholes that allow federal agencies to delay releases of public records under the Freedom of Information Act. “It’s time for Congress to step in and fix what our executive branch agencies have broken,” said Meg Townsend, […]
Read More… from New Congress called on to fix public records delays, political manipulation
The news media are powerful players in the world of government transparency and public accountability. One important tool for ensuring public accountability is through invoking transparency mandates provided by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In 2020, news organizations and individual reporters filed 122 different FOIA suits[1] to compel disclosure of federal government records—more than any […]
Read More… from Report analyzes 20 years of FOIA litigation by news organizations, reporters
