From Huffington Post:
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has rejected requests from The New York Times and the American Civil Liberties Union seeking information about its “targeted killing” program against suspected terrorists, saying the release of the requested documents would harm national security.
[…]
Read More… from The White House rejects requests for ‘targeted killing’ papers
From Project on Government Oversight:
In an ongoing effort to document the extent to which large businesses are winning federal small business contracts, the American Small Business League (ASBL) has filed another lawsuit to force the government to turn over contracting data.
[…]
Read More… from Small Business Advocacy Group Takes Pentagon to Court
From Courthouse News Service:
WASHINGTON (CN) – A federal judge granted summary judgment to the Department of Justice after it found and released one final document responsive to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Sharif Mobley, a U.S. citizen imprisoned in Yemen.
The document released to Mobley is an unclassified email exchange between the DOJ's Civil Division and its Office of Legal Counsel.
[…]
From National Archives:
OGIS is sponsoring a unique event to mark Sunshine Week (March 9-16, 2012), a celebration of government openness.
[…]
Read More… from Save the Date — OGIS’s Sunshine Week March 9-16
From BoingBoing:
Want to make a freedom-of-information request to the FBI or other three-letter agencies for any information they might have about you? This post links to a website that lets you enter personal information (or not, if you prefer), and then automatically print form letters to the correct government offices.
[…]
From Thomson Reuters News & Insight:
At a time when advocates are pushing for more transparency in government, two states are fighting in court to limit citizens' access to public documents.
Virginia and Tennessee are defending their local versions of the Freedom of Information Act which allow them to respond only to public records requests from in-state residents — and deny requests from out-of-staters.
[…]
A few open government and FOIA news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier:
South Dakota GOP official joins with Democrats to support open government
[…]
From DFM News:
In his recent State of the State Address, Governor Jack Markell highlighted several accomplishments as well as challenges in the area of “governing responsibly.” The Governor indicated that beyond careful management of its dollars and investments, the state needs to make continued strides toward more transparency, in part by developing online tools that inform citizens who is lobbying in Dover and what they are lobbying for.
[…]
[…]
Read More… from Delaware General Assembly considers open government bills
From Tulsa World:
DENVER – Judges of an appeals court said Wednesday they have to balance privacy rights against the public's right to know in deciding whether the U.S. Marshals Service will have to release federal mug shots.
[Tulsa World] is asking the Denver-based court to overturn the decision of a judge in Tulsa that federal mug shots are exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
[…]
Read More… from Appeals court hears newspaper’s mug shot FOIA lawsuit
From Delmarvanow.com:
ONANCOCK — An Onancock resident who filed a petition with the General District Court earlier this month claiming the town violated the Freedom of Information Act has asked the court to subpoena Onancock Town Manager/Town Attorney Thomas Robinett and former Town Councilman Kris LaMontagne to appear at a Jan. 11 hearing to receive motions.
[…]
Read More… from Subpoenas sought in FOIA lawsuit of Onancock (Va.)
