NFOIC – Page 91 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Kansas: Woman awarded for keeping local government information open to public

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A woman was honored Friday for her pursuit of keeping her local government open to the public.

The Kansas Sunshine Coalition for Open Government presented its 2017 Friend of Open Government award to Debbie Miller of Independence, Kansas.

The group says Miller has pressed her local government for openness over the past several years. They say one instance, when she pressed for a copy of the form the city uses to evaluate the city manager's job performance, stood out to them.

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Sarasota, Fla. Montessori school under investigation for alleged Sunshine Law violation

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The state attorney's office is now investigating an alleged sunshine law violation at a Suncoast charter school.

This follows an increasingly tense dispute between the school and parents of a former student.

Island Village Montessori School is a remote campus off Clark road. For three years, Jennifer and Jeffrey Buck–parents of 2nd grader Cooper Buck–say they poured time and energy into the school.

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Wage theft to be included in Colorado Open Records Act

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Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed into law a bill that allows the public to know if an employer steals wages from his or her workers.

Democratic Rep. Jessie Danielson's measure includes these wage violations under Colorado's Open Records Act.

The law, signed Thursday, allows citizens to find out if they're doing business with, or considering a job with, an offender.

Continue…

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Colorado: ACLU files FOIA suit for documents related to ‘Muslim ban’ implementation

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The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit Tuesday demanding information about President Donald Trump’s executive orders restricting immigration and travel from Muslim-majority nations.

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Ramarley Graham’s family sues NYPD over Freedom of Information Act request

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The family of Ramarley Graham, an unarmed teen killed by police in the Bronx, said on Wednesday they filed a lawsuit against the NYPD after the department didn’t comply with a Freedom of Information Act request.

The filing came on what would have been Graham’s 24th birthday.

Graham was 18 when he was killed in February 2012 after former police officer Richard Haste chased him into his Bronx apartment and shot him as he tried to flush marijuana down the toilet. Haste said he believed Graham was armed, but no gun was found.

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Judge rules Arkansas State Police public information officer violated Freedom of Information Act

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A judge has ruled that Arkansas State Police public information officer, Bill Sadler, violated the Freedom of Information Act.

Circuit Judge Stephen Tabor found Sadler had committed five civil violations of the FOIA law when he relied on a "blanket police" and failed to give valid reasons for not releasing dashcam videos.

Judge Tabor ordered those videos be released Monday in five cases being overseen by attorney W. Whitfield Hyman.

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White House says it won’t make visitor logs public, raises concerns about transparency

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President Donald Trump’s administration announced Friday that the White House won’t release records of its visitors, raising new concerns from transparency advocates.

The decision not to voluntarily disclose White House visitor logs is a break from the policy of former President Barack Obama’s administration, even though Trump had called his predecessor the “least transparent president.”

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New Mexico bills flounder on both transparency, secrecy

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Residents of New Mexico may be none the wiser when it comes to information about independent political expenditures and everyday spending by lobbyists after key transparency measures were vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez. At the same time, a long list of anti-transparency initiatives designed to restrict access to government information floundered during this year’s 60-day legislative session.

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‘Philosophical disagreement’ on open records pits CU against CORA supporters

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Proponents of a bill intended to make Colorado public records easier to analyze fear the University of Colorado is manipulating the bill to make records more difficult to obtain.

Senate Bill 40 concerns public access to government files, or the Colorado Open Records Act. The bill's original intent is to ensure digital records requested are provided in a searchable format.

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Va. Coalition for Open Government: Education privacy law used as excuse to used to conceal records

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Education is a $1.1 trillion industry in America, one requiring vigilant public oversight – oversight that increasingly is frustrated when answers to simple questions are concealed behind an impenetrable wall of “student privacy.”

Ask a public university or a school district anything about any issue of public importance – sexual harassment by employees, crime on campus, athlete recruiting scandals – and you can expect to hear: “We can’t tell you anything because of FERPA.” Even when they know it’s not true.

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Author: NFOIC

Posts by NFOIC

Kansas: Woman awarded for keeping local government information open to public

Sarasota, Fla. Montessori school under investigation for alleged Sunshine Law violation

Wage theft to be included in Colorado Open Records Act

Colorado: ACLU files FOIA suit for documents related to ‘Muslim ban’ implementation

Ramarley Graham’s family sues NYPD over Freedom of Information Act request

Judge rules Arkansas State Police public information officer violated Freedom of Information Act

White House says it won’t make visitor logs public, raises concerns about transparency

New Mexico bills flounder on both transparency, secrecy

‘Philosophical disagreement’ on open records pits CU against CORA supporters

Va. Coalition for Open Government: Education privacy law used as excuse to used to conceal records