FOIA lawsuits – Page 4 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Judge dismisses public records suit filed against Carolinas Healthcare System

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From CharlotteObserver.com: A judge has dismissed a lawsuit contending that one of the nation’s largest public hospital chains, Carolinas HealthCare System, violated the state public records law.

In an order signed Monday, Superior Court Judge Robert Sumner agreed that the Charlotte-based hospital system has a right to keep confidential a legal settlement that it obtained against the former Wachovia Bank.

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Small California publisher wins public records case

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From San Jose Mercury News: A state Court of Appeal has ruled that a small-town California newspaper publisher does not have to pay legal fees to a school board he sued over his public records request —a decision hailed by First Amendment advocates as a victory for government transparency.

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FOIA requests may illustrate foreign despots’ access to U.S. surveillance devices

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From Courthouse News Service: A federal judge may shine a light on foreign dictatorships that have imported illegal surveillance and jamming technology from the United States.

Events from the so-called Arab Spring show that Middle Eastern dictators have used Western technology to quash uprisings, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital watchdog group, has said.

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Springfield (Ill.) loses FOIA lawsuit again

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From NewsRadio WTAX: A man suing the city for the release of internal police files has won — again.

Calvin Christian sued the city to release internal affairs files regarding a 2011 request. Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Schmidt ruled the city could not keep secret police documents, other than to redact names, birthdates, social security numbers and other personal information. Video interviews, the judge ruled, must be transcribed and redacted accordingly.

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“FOIA Terrorist” Jason Leopold shares his transparency secrets

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From MuckRock: Jason Leopold has used the Freedom of Information Act to break a number of major stories, from the drugging of Department of Defense detainees to the Biblical justifications the Air Force used for nuclear war to a drawn-out battle with the FBI over Occupy Wall Street documents.

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FOIA suit reveals Guantánamo’s ‘indefinite detainees’

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From Miami Herald: GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — The Obama administration Monday lifted a veil of secrecy surrounding the status of the detainees at Guantánamo, for the first time publicly naming the four dozen captives it defined as indefinite detainees — men too dangerous to transfer but who cannot be tried in a court of law.

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U.S. surveillance court won’t stop release of secret ruling

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From Bloomberg Businessweek: The secret U.S. court that rules on surveillance requests from intelligence agencies said it won’t stand in the way of an activist group’s lawsuit seeking the release of one of its nonpublic opinions.

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Obama speech impacts California drone lawsuit

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From Twin Cities Daily Planet: Since its earliest days, the Obama administration has been circumspect about officially confirming the existence of its drone-centric counter-terrorism operations. Despite extensive press coverage of the subject (as well as apparently sanctioned leaks and carefully crafted public statements) the administration avoided officially acknowledging its drone program for over four years.

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Lantigua spends $32,178 of taxpayers money to fight $61 public records request

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From The Valley Patriot: Records obtained by the Valley Patriot reveal that Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua has spent a stunning amount of state taxpayer’s money, ($32,178.51) to fight the release of public records regarding legal bills and rental payments to a private law firm representing the City of Lawrence on worker’s compensation claims.

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AntiWar.com editors sue over FBI surveillance

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From Huffington Post: WASHINGTON — Two editors of AntiWar.com sued the FBI on Tuesday, alleging that the bureau has failed to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents about the government’s investigation of the website.

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