NFOIC – Page 268 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Senate agrees to open debate on Obama’s trade agenda

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Senators reached a deal Wednesday to move forward on President Barack Obama's trade agenda only one day after Democrats embarrassed him by blocking it.

Lawmakers said roughly a dozen Senate Democrats agreed to let full-blown debate begin after both parties' leaders consented to tweak the package that failed on a procedural vote Tuesday. Those Democrats' votes were the difference between blocking the agenda and letting it move ahead.

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Transparency needed for S.C. body-worn cameras

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Unresponsive democratic governments fail.

One deadly feature of such governments is a lack of transparency. When leaders decided citizens didn’t need to know about the workings of government, citizens lost a lens to determine how responsive government was, often this created mistrust, which led to anger and eventually, rebellion.

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Freedom of Information panel directs Connecticut State Police to release documents from Sandy Hook probe

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The state Freedom of Information Commission has ruled that State Police must release personal documents seized from Sandy Hook school shooter Adam Lanza's home during the investigation of the December 2012 rampage that left 20 children and six educators dead.

The agency ruled Wednesday in favor of the Hartford Courant (http://cour.at/1huZAxM ).

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Boston Globe sues law enforcement agencies for withholding records

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The Boston Globe sued the police departments in Boston and North Andover as well as several state agencies on Tuesday to obtain copies of police reports, mug shots, and prison booking logs, arguing the records must be made public under the state’s open records law.

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Editorial: ‘Working groups’ an affront to Illinois open government

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Everyone in Springfield seems to know how to spell “transparency,” but hardly anyone seems to know what the word means.

That sad fact recently reared its head when officials in Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration said they wouldn't reveal who is involved in a series of high-level talks about some of the governor's most prized pet issues, ranging from his controversial plan to allow local right-to-work zones to an overhaul of state spending.

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Opinion: State Dept. can’t fulfill your FOIA because it’s overwhelmed by Hillary e-mails

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The State Department’s latest defense on why it can’t comply with your ancient Freedom of Information request for documents is: Blame it on Hillary.

State says its document-reviewing personnel are too overwhelmed by reviewing those 55,000 pages of e-mails former secretary Hillary Clinton turned over last year to do much else.

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Veto push on Florida records limitations

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First Amendment advocates are asking Gov. Rick Scott to veto three Senate bills his office received on Thursday, arguing that each measure represents another diminishment of Florida’s long tradition of open government and open records.

The First Amendment Foundation, an advocacy group for open government funded by newspapers and other groups and individuals, is asking Scott to veto four bills, including a House bill he has yet to receive.

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Without members, open meetings board can’t meet

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Five months after Maryland's open-meetings compliance board ruled that the Housing Authority of Prince George's County violated open-meetings law, the public housing agency has been accused again of holding an illegal gathering.

But the compliance board that issued two citations against the housing authority in December is unable to address the new complaint filed by Maryland Legal Aid.

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Deluge of new FOIA requests increases governmentwide backlog

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Officials at several agencies told a Senate panel that Freedom of Information Act requests have become unmanageable because of a dramatic increase in the number of requests over the last few years.

The State Department saw its number of requests jump from fewer than 6,000 in fiscal 2008 to nearly 20,000 in fiscal 2014, said Joyce Barr, assistant secretary of the State Department Bureau of Administration, at a May 6 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

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NSA chief urges Congress to pass ‘cyber-sharing’ legislation

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America’s spy chief wants Congress to hurry up and pass a bill that would increase the flow of cyberthreat information between the private sector and the government.

“One of the greatest things I think Congress can do here is to create a legal framework that enhances this idea of the free flow of information both ways,” said National Security Agency director Adm. Michael Rogers on Monday at an event hosted by George Washington University.

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Author: NFOIC

Posts by NFOIC

Senate agrees to open debate on Obama’s trade agenda

Transparency needed for S.C. body-worn cameras

Freedom of Information panel directs Connecticut State Police to release documents from Sandy Hook probe

Boston Globe sues law enforcement agencies for withholding records

Editorial: ‘Working groups’ an affront to Illinois open government

Opinion: State Dept. can’t fulfill your FOIA because it’s overwhelmed by Hillary e-mails

Veto push on Florida records limitations

Without members, open meetings board can’t meet

Deluge of new FOIA requests increases governmentwide backlog

NSA chief urges Congress to pass ‘cyber-sharing’ legislation