National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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DelCOG wins federal lawsuit: U.S. Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in Chancery Arb Case

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The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear the Delaware Court of Chancery's appeal of a federal appellate court ruling declaring its confidential arbitration program unconstitutional. The Supreme Court's refusal to grant certiorari ends the Chancery Court's arbitration program after three years of litigation and two federal court decisions.

In an order issued Monday, the high court said it would not grant certiorari in Delaware Coalition for Open Government v. Strine, but did not provide more information.

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Judicial Watch Files Two FOIA Lawsuits Against HHS to Obtain Information on Obamacare Exemptions, Security

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Judicial Watch announced today that on March 18, 2014, it filed two new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to obtain government records about the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

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From the editor: Open government: it’s a year-long commitment

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Sunshine Week. Open meetings. We’re all very familiar with these terms — but how much emphasis do we really place on the significance they have in our government?
Last week, March 16-22, was observed as Sunshine Week and, as we in the newspaper industry often say, shines a light on how important it is that our elected officials conduct themselves in being transparent in their roles.

We can’t take open meetings laws for granted. They were established with a goal in mind: To keep us, the people officeholders serve, informed.

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Santa Rosa (CA) selects members for open government task force

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Santa Rosa's Open Government Task Force has finished selecting its members and set its first meeting for April 3.

Vice Mayor Robin Swinth and Councilwoman Erin Carlstrom are heading the 11-member task force, which is charged with producing a report about the city's commitment to open and transparent government.

“I think the panel represents a group of people with diverse backgrounds who are going to add a lot to this discussion,” Swinth said Tuesday.

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Director of national intelligence wins ‘worst open government’ prize

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James Clapper, the Obama administration’s director of national intelligence, is winner of this year’s Rosemary Award, given out for the “Worst Open Government Performance of 2013″ by the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

The award is named for Rosemary Woods, President Richard Nixon’s secretary, who took the rap — and posed for a famous stretching picture — for erasing 18 1/2 minutes from a key Watergate coverup tape.

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Opinion: McConnell scores zero in transparency analysis

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Let's leave aside whether Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign should be barring the editor of LEO Weekly, or any reporter, from a press event and look at a broader issue.

Saturday marks the end of Sunshine Week, a time when open-government advocacy groups reinforce the importance of public access to information. And that reminded me of an assessment this year from GovTrack.us that showed congressional support for transparency in all things is relative.

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