National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

Author: NFOIC

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San Diegans have a right to transparency in government

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As stated in the preamble to the Brown Act, our state’s open government law: “The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”

In the last few weeks, the city of San Diego has experienced two major failures in providing the public with open and transparent government.

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San Diegans have a right to transparency in government

Posted on

As stated in the preamble to the Brown Act, our state’s open government law: “The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”

In the last few weeks, the city of San Diego has experienced two major failures in providing the public with open and transparent government.

[…]

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How to Submit a FOIA Request Online

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While former NSA-er Edward Snowden has demonstrated his own particular method to fostering greater government transparency, there are alternate ways that won't require you to seek asylum in a foreign country. One officially sanctioned avenue is by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
FOIA was a 1966 federal law that grants the public and the press access to previously unreleased government information and documents (several states have since enacted their own state-specific Freedom of Information acts).
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Open Government data fuels private sector innovation: Data Jams, Hackathons and Datapaloozas.

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Shortly after his election in 2008, President Obama launched the Open Government Initiative, an effort to increase transparency, participation and collaboration in the federal government. The White House website noted that government data had traditionally been inaccessible to the public:

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Allegheny County legislator seeks to make changes to Sunshine Act

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Ever wonder what local government does behind closed doors at open meetings? If so, a bill currently being reviewed by state representatives aims to bring more transparency to executive sessions.

The bill was introduced by state Rep. Rick Saccone, a Republican representing Allegheny and Washington counties.
“I talked to people around the state and there’s great support,” Saccone said Wednesday during a public hearing before the House State Government Committee. “Everyone seems to see the need to reform executive session.”

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California, Illinois Add Transparency Measures

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Legislators in California and Illinois are working on transparency measures that would bring more of the public’s business out in the open. Yesterday, both houses of the Illinois statehouse passed a measure that will require state agencies to ensure that more information gets on to the state transparency portal faster. In California, a package of bills, known as the California Accountability in Public Service, or CAPS Act were proposed.

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Police misconduct files must be made public, court rules

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The Chicago Police Department can no longer keep misconduct records secret, a state appeals court has ruled.

The Illinois Freedom of Information Act doesn’t exempt “CR files,” which consist of misconduct complaints against officers and documents created during the investigations, the court found Monday.

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Report: Half of federal agencies have failed to meet transparency obligations

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Half of the federal agencies handling the bulk of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests are failing at their transparency obligations, a government watchdog group reported Monday.

The Center for Effective Government surveyed the 15 federal agencies handling 90 percent of FOIA requests and found none of them were performing well. No agency earned an overall “A” grade, and seven received failing grades.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Sunshine Laws are key to government transparency

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Democracy depends on the informed and active participation of citizens at all levels of government. Democratic governmental bodies must protect a citizen's right to know by giving adequate notice of proposed actions, holding open meetings and making public records accessible. When our right to know is violated, democracy suffers.

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