From The Blaze: A group in a municipal office in Hialeah, Florida, making a request for public records was detained by police because employees felt “we had ‘invaded’ the city clerk’s office and ‘attacked’ them with our cameras, putting them ‘under threat’ and causing them to feel ‘intimidated,’” Carlos Miller from Photography Is Not a Crime wrote on his blog.
In a separate incident the next day, a man making a request for records in Miami claims he was threatened with arrest.
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From NFOIC: A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week. While you're at it, be sure to check out State FOIA Friday Archives.
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Read More… from NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for September 13, 2013
From ActionNewsJax.com: JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Circuit Court Judge Adrian Soud must decide whether to allow the release of what Jacksonville media argues should be public record and important to the coverage of a high-profile case. His decision could make United States history.
Soud sealed records of a police report regarding the alleged attack on a nine-year-old girl in a bathroom at the Southside Boulevard Best Buy last month. A portion of a report included part of an alleged confession from the defendant, James Tadros.
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Read More… from Public records sealed in Best Buy assault case
From Naple Daily News: A dozen bills dealing with public record exemptions were approved by state lawmakers during the 2013 legislative session. Here’s a quick look at those bills:
■ SB 4: Creates a temporary exemption for written referrals of possible ethics violations submitted to the state ethics commission.
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From The Ledger: LAKELAND | Five city commissioners say they want some answers about why the Lakeland Police Department continues to be embroiled in disputes over releasing public records.
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Read More… from Lakeland city commission seeks answers on ongoing LPD records disputes
From News-Press.com:
It seems like a reasonable idea: Before the records in a criminal or civil case can be made public, Florida’s clerks of court must purge them of all Social Security, credit card and bank numbers.
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Read More… from Many Florida counties lacking in public records compliance
From Naples Daily News:
(February 19, 2013) — First Amendment advocates are applauding the city of Naples, which delayed and revised a vote on proposed changes to its public records procedures.
But some council members and residents said the city still has work to do to make the process more accessible and affordable.
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Read More… from Naples officials receive kudos for reconsidering public records changes
Editorial from Naples Daily News:
Florida's government-in-the-sunshine laws, long the nation's leader in making sure the public's business is done in public, could use a freshening.
Court rulings, technology and cultural changes have left us lagging. If we want to continue to be a state that people point to — for all the good reasons — when it comes to open government, we need reform.
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Read More… from Phil Lewis: Speaking frankly about open records and sunshine
From San Francisco Chronicle:
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — When Jacksonville City Councilman Robin Lumb tried to ask questions about the recent tuberculosis outbreak among Jacksonville’s homeless, he was never able to get answers. … He wanted to know the implications of the Jacksonville outbreak, but the Duval County Health Department wouldn’t return emails, he said. He wasn’t the only one who couldn’t get an explanation.
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Read More… from Newspaper: Some records withheld in TB outbreak
From Tampa Bay Times:
Florida’s court system is breaking into the digital age. Instead of musty paper files that sit on forgotten shelves in courthouses, county clerks across the state have entered tens of thousands of criminal, civil, traffic and other public records onto computers.
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Read More… from Florida court records are going on computers — but not online
