The annual nationwide Sunshine Week is celebrated this year from March 15 – 21. USA newspapers publish stories about public records and the difficulty in obtaining some of them. “Public records” are generally defined as records regardless of their physical form (so email would be included) made or received in connection with the transaction of official business by any government agency.
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Leonard Riley Jr. knows his First Amendment rights, and his rights to public information, and he knows when they’ve been violated.
Dissatisfied with the management policies at the Medical University of South Carolina, Riley and other activists organized a silent protest of the university’s board of trustees meetings last fall. He said they had intended to go to every meeting until their complaints were acknowledged.
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Read More… from S.C. legislators debating changes to strengthen Freedom of Information Act
Could Hillary Rodham Clinton get away with using a private email account if she were a public official in Virginia?
She wouldn’t have to bother.
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Read More… from Editorial: Virginia’s FOIA exemption would shield Clinton e-mails
The Justice Department's Office of Information Policy is introducing a new suite of tools to train feds on Freedom of Information Act procedures. The new training is suitable for all federal employees, not just FOIA officials.
The tools — to be released later this week — will include a brief video introduction to FOIA by OIP Director Melanie Ann Pustay; separate online training modules for FOIA-centric positions and general employees; and a quick-reference infographic targeted to new federal employees.
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Read More… from New FOIA training targets ‘everyday employee’
Federal agencies are still mostly failing to live up to the promise of the Freedom of Information Act, according to the annual report of watchdog group Center for Effective Government.
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Read More… from FOIA report card shows federal agencies missing the mark
Nearly 50 years after passage of the Freedom of Information Act, federal agencies continue to struggle to release requested information to the public in a timely manner. That's according a new report from the Center for Effective Government.
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Read More… from Agencies fail to make the grade on FOIA requests
The State Department is facing a barrage of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits following revelations that Hillary Clinton exclusively used a private email address to conduct official business during her tenure as secretary of state.
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Read More… from State Department to Be Slammed With FOIA Lawsuits
The Cornell Alliance for Science–a global initiative for science-based communications based at Cornell University–has launched a symbolic petition to support biotechnology research scientists in the face of recent attacks on their integrity. These attacks come from an organization called U.S. Right to Know, which recently submitted Freedom of Information requests demanding that public scientists turn over tens of thousands of emails linked to their research efforts involving biotech crops.
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Read More… from Cornell Alliance students challenge ‘anti-GMO bullies’ over FOI demand
Newspapers were once the dominant force in dislodging documents and other records from reluctant federal government agencies, but a new crop of media players, advocacy groups and corporate interests now drive the release of information.
The Freedom of Information Act of 1966 was first envisioned as a tool for traditional media to seek documents, data and information they deemed important to public interest. It also was meant to allow ordinary Americans ( http://bit.ly/1DcaxxM ) to seek information from the federal government about themselves.
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Read More… from New Players Replacing Newspapers in Seeking Government Info
By The Associated Press
Some recent developments regarding the cost of seeking access to information:
CALIFORNIA
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Read More… from Cost-related access challenges, solutions in 18 states
