National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Exclusive: CIA Sued For Info Over Spying on Senate Torture Investigation

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Today Jason Leopold and Ryan Shapiro, commonly known as Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) warriors, upped the ante in their fight for more transparency from the CIA relating to its Bush-era torture and rendition program. Leopold, a freelance investigative journalist, and Shapiro, a researcher at MIT, have filed a lawsuit against the CIA compelling the agency to release documents about their spying on Senate lawmakers who were tasked with investigating CIA torture.

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Florida city posts all email online

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In Gainesville, Fla., it doesn’t take a Freedom of Information request to find out what city officials are chattering about on email. One merely has to go online and read them.

That city recently began posting email correspondence about public business to and from the mayor and the city commissioners. There may be other localities doing it as well, but this is the first one that’s been brought to my attention.

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Award-winning investigative reporter calls Obama Administration ‘Worst Atmosphere’ for Journalists

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On last night’s C-SPAN Q&A interview series, Sharyl Attkisson said the Obama administration has created “the worst atmosphere” journalists have ever faced, and called the Freedom of Information Act “a joke.”

Attkisson is an award-winning investigative reporter who earlier this year made headlines for resigning from CBS News after a 20-year career at the TV network. Earlier this month, she became a senior independent contributor to The Daily Signal.

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FOI Complaint filed against education board chairman in CT

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A Freedom of Information complaint has been filed against Board of Education Chairwoman Susan Hoffnagle, alleging email communications from February are in violation of FOI law.

The complaint was filed by fellow school board member Ray Rabago, persons with disabilities commission chairman Art Melycher and two others. A chain of emails sent on Feb. 19 between members of the Board of Education, members of the Board of Selectmen and Town Attorney Kevin Nelligan could constitute a meeting, depending on the ruling of the Freedom of Information Commission.

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MI Gov. Rick Snyder signs laws shielding gun records from Freedom of Information Act requests

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The legislation signed Tuesday codifies a 1999 Michigan Supreme Court decision that found disclosure of gun registry records to be an invasion of privacy. The information will still be available to law enforcement officials for certain purposes, though there are new restrictions on when police can access the records.

A log of who accessed the records and the reason for doing so also is now required by the new laws.

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SC Supreme Court ruling shows weakness of open government law

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The S.C. Supreme Court decided last week that government bodies don’t have to let you know what they’re planning to do. The court ruled that bodies like school boards, county councils and city councils can hold regular meetings without ever issuing an agenda, and if they do issue an agenda, they can change it on the fly and depart from it at will.

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