From McClatchyDC: A FOIA bid by the folks at the Electronic Privacy Information Center for documents held by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has fallen short.
In a 14-page decision, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg upheld the ODNI’s withholding of 21 documents. EPIC had requested “guidelines describing how the National Counterterrorism Center retrieves and safeguards information from other federal agencies.”
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From The Chippewa Herald: A group of media outlets and organizations advocating for freedom of information filed a motion Tuesday in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals aimed at ensuring that records involving a former aide to Scott Walker are not kept secret.
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Read More… from Media companies seek to intervene in ‘John Doe’ case
From The Washington Post: The fight by a conservative legal group and Del. Robert Marshall (R-Prince William) to obtain the e-mails written by leading climate change scientist Michael E. Mann while he was at the University of Virginia was shot down by a judge in Prince William County last year. […]
Read More… from Prince William FOIA case on global warming headed for Virginia Supreme Court
From KJRH: GLENPOOL, Okla. – This little city just south of Tulsa on Highway 75 has grown a lot over the past few years.
It has recently added a new community center and city hall, but it’s what Tommy Carner says is going on inside the new buildings, that prompted him to run for Glenpool city council.
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Carner helped gather signatures for a state audit in February of 2012. Two years later, the 75-page audit has been released.
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From Richmond Times Dispatch: In 1996, when the Virginia Coalition for Open Government formed, its founders wanted to make at least one point abundantly clear: The public’s right to know is the public’s right to know. The Freedom of Information Act was not — and is not — a media law.
Statistics and anecdotal evidence at the local, state and federal level bear this out. The number of requests for records made by members of the news media pale in comparison with those made by citizens, lawyers, businesses, researchers and academics.
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Read More… from Megan Rhyne: The press does heavy lifting on FOIA
From Reporter Committee for Freedom of the Press: In response to the recent controversy about The Associated Press phone records subpoena, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that would expand the existing shield law for the state’s journalists.
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Read More… from California expands journalist shield law, requires third-party subpoena notification
From ctpost.com: OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A state legislator on Tuesday quizzed two court clerks over why public court records aren’t readily available online during a hearing examining broadening Oklahoma’s Open Records Act.
Norman Republican Rep. Aaron Stiles requested Tuesday’s interim study before the House Judiciary Committee to review how the act applies to certain court files.
Visit ctpost.com for more.
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Read More… from Okla. legislator looks to broaden Open Records Act
From delmarvanow.com: DEWEY BEACH — Citizens express concern about Town Manager Marc Applebaum’s meetings with members of the local business community, saying he should be subjected to open meeting laws, noticed and conducted in public, citing officials promise of more transparency last year after their published agendas violated the Freedom of Information Act rules.
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From Property Casualty 360: The attorney work-product privilege is one of the three primary privileges incorporated into Exemption 5 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5). It protects materials prepared by an attorney or others in anticipation of litigation, ostensibly shielding materials that would disclose the attorney’s theory of the case or trial strategy. President Lyndon B. Johnson originally signed FOIA into law by on July 4, 1966 and it went into effect the following year.
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Read More… from Opinion: Are pre-denial claims communications admissable in court?
From Fort Mill Times: WASHINGTON — Lisa A. Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), issued the following statement today applauding the Wisconsin Senate for passing legislation promoting transparency and limiting contingency fees when the state attorney general, an executive branch agency, or elected officials hire outside private plaintiff attorneys to represent the state. The legislation, the Transparency in Private Attorney Contracting Act (AB 27), now heads to Governor Scott Walker for his signature.
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