July 6, 2020 For Immediate Release Contact: Daniel Bevarly Executive Director, NFOIC dbevarly@nfoic.org 352-294-7082 Another instance where the pandemic has been used by a public body to validate holding a public meeting without the public (17 meetings actually) has resulted in another lawsuit. Although COVID-19 has created challenges for state and […]
Read More… from Knight FOI Litigation Fund supports another pandemic-related open meetings lawsuit
Taxpayers are spending billions to confront the coronavirus on the front lines ― buying medical supplies, protective equipment and other essential gear. But even months into the pandemic, many states including Florida are withholding details about what they’re buying and who they’re paying, according to a new, exhaustive survey by the Associated Press. This secrecy only invites […]
Two transparency bills died Tuesday during a purge of proposals left over from before the coronavirus pandemic forced a suspension of the 2020 Colorado legislative session. Meeting for the first time since Mar. 11, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 4-1 to kill a bipartisan measure that would have required the state’s judicial branch to publish Colorado Supreme Court and […]
The Alabama governor’s emergency order allowing teleconferenced meetings in limited situations during the COVID-19 pandemic is being abused by the council majority, according to at least one Decatur, Ala., councilman. Gov. Kay Ivey’s order waives portions of the Open Meetings Act by allowing teleconferenced meetings, but only for COVID-19-related business and as “necessary to perform […]
Read More… from Alabama Council Members Debate Use of Online City Meetings
In the more than half-century since President Lyndon Johnson signed the nation’s first Freedom of Information Act into law, the measure has proved to be a valuable tool for taxpayers and the press to keep a check on dealings by public officials that would otherwise be shrouded in secrecy. FOIA requests have yielded insights into […]
Read More… from NYT Opinion: No, Your FOIA Request Cannot Wait ‘Until This Emergency Is Over’
Letting the Arizona Department of Health Services withhold information about COVID-19 cases elevates the financial interests of long-term-care facilities above the public’s right to know — and protect itself — the attorney for state news outlets told a judge Wednesday. David Bodney asked Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury to rule that the state […]
They just don’t seem to get it. Or maybe they do and just don’t care. We’re talking about executive sessions. But until somebody decides to challenge them legally, boards will continue to deceive the people they serve. This time, the flagrant offender is the Ilion Village Board. Prior to its legally announced March 11 regular […]
Read More… from Observer Dispatch OUR VIEW: Public officials must be held accountable
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration has denied some requests for information about Iowa’s preparedness and response to the novel coronavirus by citing a broad exemption in the state’s public records law. Two Iowa agencies have denied Des Moines Register requests this month seeking documentation of the state’s pandemic response plan and daily reports regarding the state’s response to the virus and COVID-19, […]
Read More… from Iowa is denying the public access to some records of its COVID-19 response
Communities across the country are finding themselves in a bind as they try to pass urgent legislation to combat the coronavirus pandemic at the same time public meetings are impossible. Open-government advocates say many city councils, school boards and other governing bodies are failing at the task, holding meetings that are inaccessible to the public, rushing actions […]
Read More… from Local Governments Are Hard to Find as Coronavirus Ends Public Meetings
States and cities across the country are cutting off access to open records and canceling in-person meetings, starving the public — not to mention lobbyists and other influence-brokers — of information as the coronavirus outbreak reaches into all corners of civic life. The public access shutdown comes just as local officials make unprecedented decisions about […]
Read More… from Coronavirus clampdown: The virus casts a shroud over American civic life
