The Obama administration set a record for the number of times its federal employees told disappointed citizens, journalists and others that despite searching they couldn't find a single page requested under the Freedom of Information Act, according to a new Associated Press analysis of government data.
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Read More… from US government sets record for failures to find files when asked
A South Carolina bill that would force public bodies to respond more quickly to state Freedom of Information Act requests is headed to the Senate floor after approval by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The 17-1 vote for a favorable report on the bill comes after years of attempts by lawmakers to reach agreement on changes to the law governing access to public records in the state.
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Read More… from South Carolina Senate panel OKs bill requiring faster FOIA responses
The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill to expand the public's access to government records, after a year of delay.
The Senate's move means both chambers have now passed similar proposals to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Differences will still need to be resolved before the measure makes it to President Obama's desk — potentially forcing the administration's hand on a bill it has previously lobbied against.
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For those using freedom of information laws in the United States, the race for records is almost always marathon: At the federal level, over the course of 9,166 requests, we've found an average wait time of 140 days — even though the law states records should be returned in just 20.
Most states are better, but not near where they should be: Massachusetts has an average response time of 80 days and California, you'll wait 49 days, even though their respective laws require responses within 10 days.
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Read More… from This Sunshine Week, how would you #FixFOIABy50?
Journalists and First Amendment advocates faced discouraging news last week when VICE News reporter Jason Leopold pulled back the curtain on secret attempts to hamstring open records laws in the United States.
Leopold, who's been hailed by The New York Times and others for his skill at prying secrets from the government, disclosed that the Obama administration worked behind the scenes to torpedo a bill that would have sped and streamlined public records requests made under the Freedom of Information Act.
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Read More… from As Sunshine Week dawns, more need than ever for transparency
More than 40 organizations and individuals committed to government openness and accountability sent a letter thanking Senators Grassley, Leahy and Cornyn for their authorship of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 (S.337), and urging the earliest possible passage of the bill.
The FOIA Improvement Act has received overwhelming support on both sides of the aisle and from the openness community, and includes necessary measures to enable public oversight that is critical to ensuring government accountability.
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Read More… from Open government groups ask Senate to pass FOIA reforms during Sunshine Week
Associated Press General Counsel Karen Kaiser today urged lawmakers to enact bipartisan legislation now before the U.S. Senate to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act and make it work better.
In testimony delivered to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in Washington, Kaiser detailed the many problems journalists and the public face when seeking access to public documents.
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Read More… from AP general counsel urges lawmakers to strengthen FOIA
Year after year, the state’s open-records law cracks a door to the activities of government that might otherwise stay secret. Information gleaned with its help has a power to change lives for the better and make governments more accountable.
But some officials continue to ignore the S.C. Freedom of Information Act or find ways around it.
When it has worked, the law has helped expose faults in the system for investigating police shootings and lifted a veil hiding shoddy care of foster children.
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Read More… from For South Carolina’s open-government law, a time of triumphs and setbacks
The Obama administration has long called itself the most transparent administration in history. But newly released Department of Justice (DOJ) documents show that the White House has actually worked aggressively behind the scenes to scuttle congressional reforms designed to give the public better access to information possessed by the federal government.
The documents were obtained by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports journalism in the public interest, which in turn shared them exclusively with VICE News.
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Read More… from FOIA lawsuit uncovers how the Obama administration killed FOIA reform
Facing substantial opposition from legislative leaders in both parties, Gov. Terry McAuliffe is backing off sweeping changes he recommended to a Freedom of Information Act bill designed to prevent a public record from being denied when only a portion of the record needs to be redacted.
Sponsored by Sen. Scott A. Surovell, D-Fairfax, Senate Bill 494 was proposed to clarify FOIA following a Virginia Supreme Court ruling on a case Surovell brought last year that sought details on how Virginia carries out executions.
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Read More… from Virginia Governor backs off push for sweeping changes to FOIA bill
