National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

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N.M. judge sidesteps rules in sealing corruption case

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From Albuquerque Journal: Under state Supreme Court rules, records in a criminal case can be sealed if a judge finds a specific interest would be harmed by public disclosure, but the judge’s sealing order must be “narrowly tailored.”

The rules say:

“The order shall require the sealing of only those documents, pages, or portions of a court record that contain the material that needs to be sealed. All other portions of each document or page shall be filed without limitation on public access.”

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Want a file from the NSA? You can ask, but you might not get it

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From Delmarva Public Radio: Since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked classified information about the agency’s intelligence-gathering activities last summer, the NSA has been bombarded with requests for its records.

USA Today this week said the agency received more than 2,500 requests for records from July to September, compared to about 250 from January to March.

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Mass. lawmakers: Make it easier for residents to get records

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From Lowellsun.com: BOSTON — Area lawmakers are hoping a series of proposed bills will provide better and cheaper public access to government records by moving the costly and time consuming paper chase online.

“Electronic copies should be able to download and people can take what they want,” said Rep. Dave Nangle, D-Lowell, a member of the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, which met last month to consider ways to speed access to public records.

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Miss. newspaper seeks contempt order in records dispute

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From SunHerald.com: BILOXI, MISS. — The Sun Herald has asked a judge to hold Mississippi State Auditor Stacey Pickering and his office in civil contempt of court for failing to turn over records requested by the newspaper.

The Sun Herald sued Pickering for access to records that his office had seized from the state Department of Marine Resources as part of an ongoing investigation of the agency.

Visit SunHerald.com for more.

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Washington lawmaker calls for study of public records law reforms

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From HeraldNet.com: OLYMPIA — Leaders of local governments frustrated by the growing amount of time and tax dollars spent satisfying those with a voracious demand for public records shouldn’t count on help from the state anytime soon.

A House member who sought changes in the public records law to fend off what are perceived as exorbitant requests from those with questionable motives now says the state must gather more information on the magnitude of the problem.

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Open records peek behind city’s closed doors

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From Coloradoan.com: Colorado State University’s on-campus stadium as proposed would inadequately address parking.

Around-the-clock footage from hundreds of government surveillance cameras in Fort Collins can be viewed on demand and is readily available to police without a warrant.

The city manager is aware of about a dozen occurrences of questionable ethics or disturbing behavior by city staff during the past year.

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News media protest White House press access limits

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From azcentral.com: WASHINGTON — Dozens of leading news organizations are protesting to the White House against restrictions that sometimes keep journalists from taking pictures and video of President Barack Obama performing official duties. At the same time, two press groups urged their members to stop using official photos and video handed out by the White House, dismissing them as little more than “government propaganda.”

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Tensions between student privacy and excessive secrecy may be heating up

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From NFOIC:  COLUMBIA, Mo — Will there be an onslaught of new state legislation that aims to moot the impact of a relaxed Department of Education regulation that gives educational researchers access to data to track individual students’ progress?

The Student Press Law Center, press associations and some open are bracing for legislative overreach at the state level that might result in attempts to respond to the Department of Education’s relaxed regulation.

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