From Michigan Capitol Confidential: The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved House Bill 4770, which among other things, attempts to define what a journalist is to restrict access to motor vehicle accident reports for a period of 30 days after the accident.
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From New England First Amendment Coalition: PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Journalists from a variety of media and all six New England states will gather in Dedham, Mass., Sept. 29-Oct. 1 to learn the latest investigative and database reporting techniques and public records access skills.
The fellows chosen for this, the New England First Amendment Coalition’s third annual Institute, reflect today’s diverse news media and come from daily and weekly newspapers, television and radio stations and online publications.
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Read More… from NEFAC announces its 2013 New England First Amendment Institute fellows
From Open Government Standard: The Open Government Standards are open to public consultation. We are inviting experts, civil society organisations, academics and the general public to make suggestions, comment and provide input on the standards in three sections: transparency, participation and accountability.
You will be able to read the standards and make your comments and suggestions here. You can also email comments to contact [at] opengovstandards.org.
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Read More… from Open Government Standards – public consultation
From Houston Chronicle: BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A college student from Baton Rouge who has clashed with the education department over its voucher program filed a public records lawsuit against Superintendent of Education John White.
Zack Kopplin, who attends Rice University, said White and the Department of Education have refused to provide documents he's sought about the voucher program and a law that allows public school science teachers to use supplemental materials in their classrooms.
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Read More… from La. public records suit filed against superintendent
From The Guardian: The National Security Agency routinely shares raw intelligence data with Israel without first sifting it to remove information about US citizens, a top-secret document provided to the Guardian by whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals.
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Read More… from NSA shares raw intelligence including Americans’ data with Israel
From TalkingPointsMemo: Solicitor General Donald Verrilli and Sen. Diane Feinstein have put federal prosecutors in quite a bind after they made public comments about the use of secret NSA surveillance in terrorism investigations.
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Read More… from Feds fight to prevent NSA disclosures in criminal cases
From The Advocate: Saying daily $500 fines have not grabbed its attention, an unyielding state judge warned the LSU Board of Supervisors on Monday that it now faces additional sanctions, including possible jail time, if it does not immediately comply with her more than four-month-old order to make public the records of its secret presidential search.
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Read More… from Judge: LSU board could face jail if search records not released
From ACLU: The ACLU and the ACLU of New Jersey are in federal appeals court today in a second challenge to FBI claims of secrecy concerning its troubling nationwide racial and ethnic mapping program. The argument comes in a lawsuit filed in 2011, after the FBI refused to adequately respond to our Freedom of Information Act request for records about which American communities it’s spying on in New Jersey. […]
Read More… from In court today: continuing to challenge FBI secrecy on racial and ethnic profiling
From The Fresno Bee: SACRAMENTO — The average retirement payout for new retirees in California's biggest public pension system doubled between 1999 and 2012, according to CalPERS data, and initial monthly payments for one group nearly tripled in that period.
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Read More… from California pension payouts have doubled since 1999
