National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Opinion: Why strengthening the Freedom of Information Act is so important

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President Obama has routinely promised greater transparency within the federal government. Now, Congress is making strides toward achieving this critical goal.

The House of Representatives and the Senate are considering nearly identical bills to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which provides the general public, including journalists, with access to federal government records.

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Questions Linger Over Immigration Agencies’ FOIA Response

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A Louisiana federal judge declined to say Monday that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and other government agencies skirted their obligations after an immigration lawyer’s Freedom of Information Act request, but said some questions remained unanswered.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Wilkinson Jr. recommended denial of two motions for summary judgement in a suit filed by Michael W. Gahagan, an attorney at The Immigration Law Firm of New Orleans.

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Watchdog groups challenge State Investment Council settlements

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An open-government group and the state press association are asking a court to overturn legal agreements that have repaid taxpayers millions of dollars from a long-running scandal because the State Investment Council failed to comply with the Open Meetings Act.

An attorney for the New Mexico Press Association and the Foundation for Open Government argues that the settlements with investment advisers, consultants and money managers were negotiated and approved by a portion of the full State Investment Council, called the Litigation Committee.

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US Marshals Service Whistleblowers Allege Officials Use Freedom of Information Act to Retaliate Against Them

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Multiple whistleblowers in the US Marshals Service have informed Republican Senator Chuck Grassley’s office that leadership is allegedly using Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to retaliate against them for seeking to report systemic abuses of power.

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Illinois AG Lisa Madigan rendering FOIA Law useless –

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There are several instances where the inaction of the Attorney General’s office leads to the public being improperly denied public records. This is simply another case we decided to highlight today – more are coming:

Last summer Cook County decided it could violate the law and deny access to public records. I filed a request for review with the Attorney General’s Public Access Counselor, and it was assigned file number 2014 PAC 30503.

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Dewey Beach of Delaware increases price for document requests

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Despite an outcry from members of the public, Dewey Beach Town Council increased the cost of documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

The 4-1 vote came during council’s April 11 meeting. The cost to make copies is now 25 cents per page, up from 10 cents. Commissioner Anna Legates was the lone no vote.

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Editorial: We need to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act

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President Barack Obama routinely promises to provide greater transparency within the federal government. Now, Congress is making strides toward achieving this critical goal.

The House of Representatives and Senate are considering nearly identical bills to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act, which provides the general public, including journalists, with access to federal government records.

[…]

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Opinion: Federal government fails basic openness test

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You’d think that if you were going to get a timely and adequate response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the federal government, it would be from the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy, which oversees the government’s compliance with FOIA requests.

But if you thought that, you’d be wrong.

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