The Tenth “Sunshine Week” ended on March 21. This annual celebration of open government was created by the American Society of News Editors with a grant from the John L. and James S. Knight Foundation.
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Read More… from Editorial: Making ‘Sunshine Week’ every week
A legislative panel advanced a bill Thursday that would prevent nearly all student emails, including those to and from student government representatives, from being publicly released.
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Read More… from Wyoming lawmakers advance student email privacy bill
“Cameras, Cops and Accountability,” a Newseum TV event co-sponsored by the D.C. Open Government Coalition, featured a panel discussion on the legal and policy considerations regarding public access to police body camera footage.
Although the panel addressed body camera policy nationwide, the main focus was on access to body camera videos, legislation and proposed regulations in the District of Columbia. Continue…
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The Chicago Tribune filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that Mayor Rahm Emanuel violated state open records laws by refusing to release communications about city business conducted through private emails and text messages.
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Read More… from Chicago Mayor faces lawsuit over use of private email
Governments across the country are striving to meet a call to transparency by upping their data collection and analysis efforts. But with this trend toward big data comes an influx of “bad data” — inaccurate, outdated or misused information that leads to ill-informed policies, misled initiatives and an ensuing lack of citizen trust.
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Read More… from Editorial: Transparency and avoiding the pitfalls of bad data
Massachusetts State Rep. Dennis Rosa said the introduction of House Bill 3665 — titled “An Act to improve public records” — is attempt to bring Massachusetts up to par with the other states.
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Read More… from Bill would update Massachusetts Public Records Law
State Sen. Larry Martin said he plans to introduce a bill that would require law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to get approval from a judge to withhold videos taken at the scene of a crime beyond the period allowed in the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
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Read More… from South Carolina senator seeks quicker release of police dash cam videos
Weighing in on an open-records case involving some of Kentucky's most vulnerable residents, a divided state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that an advocacy group failed to qualify for access to documents related to the deaths of some people in the state's care.
The case pitted the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services against the nonprofit Council on Developmental Disabilities. Continue…
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Read More… from Kentucky high court rules against advocacy group in open-records case
In 1887, the Legislative Assembly of the Dakota Territory commanded that city councils "shall sit with open doors and shall keep a journal of their own proceedings."
Open meetings and open records have been a part of North Dakota law ever since. Now, it's time for an update of those laws—and North Dakota is asking for residents' help. Continue…
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Read More… from Editorial: Your opportunity to reform North Dakota’s sunshine laws
Colorado lawmakers say they’ll push a measure to force the state judiciary to disclose how it spends its money and disciplines employees.
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Read More… from Colorado lawmakers push for more transparency in judiciary
