National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

Author: NFOIC

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Posts by NFOIC

Records requests: Would you want information on your child’s death?

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Your teenage son is walking through his Arizona neighborhood, on a sidewalk perhaps 50 feet from the fence that separates us from Mexico. He is visiting his brother at work. Some kids begin throwing rocks across the fence at Mexican border guards. Your son tries to evade the confrontation.

The Mexican border guards respond with gunfire, shooting through the fence to the U.S. side. Your son is killed, shot 10 times in the back and head. Everyone else runs safely away. Witnesses say your son was not involved.

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Group claims Missouri Rep. With Agriculture Ties Hopes To Block Public Access To Animal Health Records

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The Freedom of Information Act is widely viewed as a successful piece of legislation that helps increase government transparency. But if Missouri State Rep. Jay Houghton (R) has his way, residents of his state will soon have significantly less access to the financial and health records of Missouri’s meat and agriculture businesses.

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Charleston attorney criticizes Supreme Court allowance of FOIA fees

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A Charleston attorney predicts the state Supreme Court’s ruling will have a “chilling effect” on West Virginia’s residents seeking public documents through FOIA requests.

The 4-1 ruling, issued April 10, effectively clears the way for government organizations to charge hourly fees to fulfill requests for public documents filed through the Freedom of Information Act.

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Climate scientist’s privacy victory may prove a lose for journalists

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After deliberating for months, late last week the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in favor of climate scientist Michael Mann in his quest to maintain the privacy of his emails against a Virginia legislator and conservative think tank that sought to access his records using Virginia’s freedom of information laws.

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California Measure to make initiatives more transparent advances

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A bill that would bring greater transparency to California’s century-old ballot initiative system was approved on Tuesday, April 22, by lawmakers on the State Senate’s Elections Committee. The Ballot Initiative Transparency Act, SB1253, authored by Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D – Sacramento) was approved on a 4-to-1 vote and moves forward to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

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Florida League of Cities President says Keep Florida Government in the Sunshine

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When it comes to having an open-and-transparent government that is accountable to the people, Florida truly leads the nation. Since the Florida Government-in-the-Sunshine Law was enacted in 1967, Florida has served as a model for other states.

In a world where technological advancements have introduced even more material into the public record, we continue to be on the cutting edge of reforms.

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Data Act Moves Forward: Transparency Closer to Becoming a Reality for Millions of Citizens

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A big data transformation is evolving apace in government agencies across the United States, and federal organizations will soon join the movement as the historic Data Act has just cleared a major milestone. Teradata Corp. (NYSE: TDC), the analytic data platforms, marketing applications and services company, announced today that supporters of the legislation will gather one week from today, April 29, for the inaugural Data Transparency Summit at Union Market in Washington, sponsored by the Data Transparency Coalition.

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New video educates board, commission members on Virginia open government law

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A new training video is available to help Virginia's more than 4,000 public board and commission members understand the state's Freedom of Information Act.

The eight-minute video was put together by the State Council of Higher Education, the Attorney General's Office and the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.

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