FOIA – Page 16 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Republican National Committee Sends Freedom of Information Act Request on the Withholding of Clinton Documents

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Today the Republican National Committee sent a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to the National Archives and Records Administration in order to find out who was responsible for improperly withholding documents at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library for over a year. The lawful withholding period of the documents expired in January 2013, but no documents were released until February 2014. Many documents have yet to be released. As such, the RNC is requesting copies of any correspondence related to the review, consideration, or withholding of documents.

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Westchester won’t divulge cost of legal fight vs. HUD

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As Westchester County considers filing a second lawsuit against the federal government over the loss of millions in community development grants, the administration of County Executive Rob Astorino is refusing to disclose the cost of its lengthy legal fights over the county's compliance with a 2009 fair housing settlement.

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Editorial: Bill limiting court information another attack on openness

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The Wisconsin Legislature is embarked on yet another attack on the state's longtime tradition of open government.

This latest attack, which has support from both sides of the aisle, is a bill that would remove from the state's online records system criminal cases that do not lead to convictions or are overturned on appeal.

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Texas Attorney General Orders Camera Company To Produce Documents

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Cities and their photo enforcement contractors are often reluctant to respond to freedom of information act requests. Odessa, Texas did its best to suppress a request for emails between city employees and American Traffic Solutions (ATS) by allowing the vendor to argue it was exempt from handing over the documents.

"Information is excepted from the requirements of [the public disclosure law] if it is information that, if released, would give advantage to a competitor or bidder," states Section 552.104 of the Texas Government Code, which ATS cited.

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UConn Foundation Butts Up against Freedom of Information Act

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The University of Connecticut Foundation, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from private donors, should be considered a public agency under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, advocates argued at a legislative hearing, according to the Hartford Courant.

The Courant story reports on a bill in the state house that would make the UConn Foundation subject to the same disclosure requirements as regular government agencies and require that its books be inspected by Connecticut’s Auditors of Public Accounts.

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Using FOIA, the Chicago Tribune followed an undercover FBI agent’s formation of a political committee

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The Tribune used state records and trial transcripts to show how an undercover FBI agent, using the alias Carlos Vargas, formed a political committee while posing as a strip club manager in the Chicago suburb of Harvey.

The records list Vargas as providing about $140,000 to the committee, named The Harvey Good Government Group 2007. Fliers tied to the committee promoted the re-election of the suburb's controversial mayor.Continue>>>

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W.Va. Supreme Court to hear Nitro FOIA case

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Attorneys for the city of Nitro will argue Monday before the West Virginia Supreme Court that a circuit judge erred by not allowing the city to charge $25 an hour to look up information to fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests.

In 2009, the Nitro City Council approved an ordinance charging citizens $25 an hour if it took city officials more than 10 minutes to look up information to comply with FOIA requests. The fee was supposed to compensate the city for the time it took to collect the requested information.

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Housing Authority hands critic big bill for photocopies

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The Saratoga Springs Housing Authority may have hit on a novel way to get back at its critics — a hit in their wallets.

John Kaufmann, one of the housing authority’s most persistent critics, was recently hit with a bill for $394.25, after the SSHA responded voluminously to what he thought was a reasonable Freedom of Information Law request for documents.

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House unanimously passes FOIA bill

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The House on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill that would make Freedom of Information requests easier with potentially faster response times.

H.R. 1211, the FOIA Oversight and Implementation Act of 2014 was co-sponsored by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), and puts into action an executive memorandum from President Barack Obama that calls on all agencies to have a "presumption of disclosure" to all FOIA decisions.

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OpEd – Huge portion of FOIA Officers in Illinois ignored mandated training, certification

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Recent requests to see the FOIA officer training and certifications at the 34 state agencies listed on the Attorney general’s website: 60% were not current and violating mandatory state law.

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