On his first day in office in 2009, President Obama promised that transparency would be one of the "touchstones of this presidency."
Advocates for open government were ecstatic at the promise of less secrecy and the president's directive to all government agencies that "in the face of doubt, openness prevails."
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Read More… from Opinion: Federal agencies stiff-arm FOIA requests
A House-passed bill allowing South Carolina public agencies to take legal action against citizens who file “unduly burdensome” or “overly broad” open-records requests could be the first law of its kind in the country if enacted, several legal observers say.
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Read More… from Empowering Public Agencies to Stop Citizen FOIA Requests – Another S.C. First?
After the scandal that sent former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to prison, lawmakers adopted a raft of reforms that included creating a referee to intervene when bureaucrats reject citizens’ requests for government records.
Five years later, the “public access counselor” in the attorney general’s office has yet to respond to more than 2,800 appeals of Freedom of Information Act requests for information that a government agency deemed secret, according to an analysis of records obtained by The Associated Press.
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Read More… from Illinois FOIA appeal process plagued by years-long backlog
On March 2, 2015, a D.C. district court denied a plaintiff’s motion for spoliation sanctions against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its conduct in connection with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Despite the result, the court expressed its displeasure with the agency.
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Read More… from EPA Avoids Spoliation Sanctions, But D.C. District Court Not Pleased
The formation of hundreds of nonprofit groups that run or support police, ambulance or fire services across Iowa has invoked deep questions about lack of oversight that some say could leave the state vulnerable to corruption.
The concern hinges on accountability: Their nonprofit status could shelter such groups from state audits, allow for secret meetings and prohibit the public's ability to inspect detailed spending information, according to a review by The Des Moines Register of such groups' status.
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Read More… from Critics: Nonprofits could conceal government corruption
Some recent examples of New York journalists facing challenges to efforts to shine light on the working of local government:
ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
The newspaper is involved in two lawsuits challenging authorities' denial of requests for information under the state Freedom of Information Law. Continue>>>
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Read More… from A sampling of NY journalists’ open government challenges
Gawker Media continues to prod the U.S. Department of State to hand over email communications between Philippe Reines, a former press aide in the department, and reporters from 34 media outlets. On Friday, the news site filed a lawsuit in D.C. federal court under the Freedom of Information Act in the latest sign that the imbroglio over revelations that Hillary Clinton used a personal email address instead of a government one is not going away anytime soon.
Gawker first made a FOIA request on Reines' communications in 2011 but got nowhere.
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Read More… from Gawker Pushes for Clinton Aide’s Emails in FOIA Lawsuit
A Senate committee on Thursday discussed but took no action on a bill that would largely exempt former state employees’ records from the state Freedom of Information Act.
Senate Bill 892 by Rep. John Cooper, R-Jonesboro, would make all information about a state employee exempt from the FOI law 60 days after the person leaves office, except for the employee’s name; agency or department of employment; position or rank; dates of service; awards, decorations or commendations; and the city or town of his or her last known address.
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Read More… from State Senator Wishes To Exempt Former State Employees’ Records From FOIA
Simpsonville City Council received an opinion from the state Attorney General's office that a quorum was present when council members and other city officials toured the historic Simpsonville Grammar School last fall, therefore it may have violated the Freedom of Information Act.
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Read More… from Simpsonville building tour may have violated FOIA
