National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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Princess Diana death dossier is censored 65 TIMES by civil servants

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Whitehall chiefs have reluctantly handed the Sunday People an official log detailing the hours ­after Princess Diana died in Paris – but only after massively censoring it.

Civil servants spent five months fobbing off repeated Freedom of Information requests for the British Embassy document. And it was finally released only after Home Secretary Theresa May gave her approval. But the log, typewritten on three tatty foolscap pages, had 65 deletions.

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‘Online checkbook’ would help Ohioans monitor state spending

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More than a year ago, state Rep. Mike Dovilla, R-Berea, and Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel proposed the establishment of an “online checkbook” for the state of Ohio. Once up and running, a database maintained by the treasurer’s office would allow anyone to go online to see just what the state was paying for.

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Our view: An information upgrade

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Radford schools are promising that future audio files of board meetings will end up much less expensive than the $40-an-hour rate quoted initially to an interested resident.

That was the rate before then-school board candidate Mark Schafer contacted columnist Dan Casey. Casey’s April 10 column (“Radford school board recordings out of reach”) exposed a school system not quite up-to-date in its use of technology, and ignorant or indifferent to certain provisions of the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

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Group keeps up fight to disclose Mich. driver fees

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The Genoa Township-based Brain Injury Association of Michigan will not back down from its demand that catastrophic-injury-fee data be made public, despite an unfavorable ruling last week, an association official said.

The Michigan Court of Appeals last week ruled that the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, created under the state’s no-fault insurance law, should remain exempt from the state Freedom of Information Act.

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Ask Ars: Can I see what information the feds have on my travel?

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Lately I’ve been on something of a public records binge. I asked for records about my license plate reader data from local law enforcement agencies. I asked for complaint records from the Federal Trade Commission about a sketchy Bitcoin mining hardware maker. A few more requests are still pending.

And last summer, I asked United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency for my travel records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Recently, I got an answer back—sort of.

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Add transparency to government employee records

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Before they headed back to Raleigh for the short session, lawmakers predicted the legislature would devote its time this year to The Three E's — education, environment, economy.

We'd like to add another "E" to the list — employees, as in government employees. North Carolina falls short on legislation related to workers employed by you, the public. Lawmakers could remedy the situation by passing The Government Transparency Act.

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DOJ to disclose memo justifying drone strikes on Americans, easing Senate vote on author

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In a bid to clear the way for a controversial Senate nominee, the Obama administration signaled it will publicly reveal a secret memo explaining its legal justification for using drones to kill American citizens overseas.

The Justice Department, officials say, has decided not to appeal a Court of Appeals ruling requiring disclosure of a redacted version of the memo under the Freedom of Information Act.

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Day Three of Florida legislative redistricting hearings: Window into reality and the defense of secret deals as ‘entirely proper

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Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2014/05/day-three-of-redistricting-window-into-reality-and-the-defense-of-secret-deals-as-entirely-proper.html#storylink=cpy

Senate President Don Gaetz testified under oath Wednesday that it was “entirely proper” for him to meet in secret with House Speaker Will Weatherford to reach a deal over a congressional map as part of the Legislature’s once-a-decade redistricting process.

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