Arguing that citizens shouldn’t be locked out of a court hearing that could produce reforms to Minnesota’s troubled sex-offender treatment program, the Star Tribune, New York Times and 13 other news and open-government organizations have asked a federal judge to reverse himself and allow the public to attend the Aug. 10 conference.
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Read More… from Minnesota: News organizations ask judge to open MSOP hearing on Monday
Today we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Justice Department over their unpublished rules for using National Security Letters and so-called informal “exigent letters” to conduct surveillance of journalists.
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Read More… from Freedom of the Press Foundation: We just sued the Justice Department
The FBI has just released more than 5,000 pages of documents regarding its highly controversial "Stingray" cell phone location tracker, a device so secretive that the agency has forced local law enforcement to drop criminal cases rather than risk disclosing details about it at trial. But don't expect to open these documents with the intent of understanding, well, anything about how the FBI uses them—nearly everything is redacted.
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Read More… from FBI Releases ‘Cell Phone Tracking for Dummies,’ Plus 4,999 [Redacted] Documents
The state has found that the City Council did not violate Open Meeting Law when meeting in private about a $68 million power plant lawsuit.
The Attorney General’s office ruled last week that the council appropriately entered into executive session last winter to discuss the federal lawsuit and the possibility of a settlement.
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Read More… from Brockton City Council cleared of violating Open Meeting Law
A Verified Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief naming the Clark County Park District as Defendant was filed in Clark County Circuit Court on 02/18/2015.
This stems from the February 17, 2015 meeting where the Board approved “Lease Rates” and “Amended Covenants” but kept the contents of those documents secret from the public.
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Read More… from Open Meetings suit filed against Clark County Park District
Governor Rick Scott is getting pressure from media organizations and open-government advocates who filed a lawsuit over the ouster of Florida’s top cop.
The lawsuit alleges the handling of the forced resignation of the state’s top law-enforcement officer violated the Sunshine Law and is calling for an independent investigation.
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Read More… from Media, Open-Government Groups Seek Answers On Bailey Ouster
Embattled professor Steven Salaita has filed a lawsuit against the University of Illinois to force the campus to hire him and compensate him for lost income and damages to his reputation.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court of the Northern District of Illinois.
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Third Judicial District Chancellor Douglas T. Jenkins made a ruling Thursday regarding Tennessee's Open Meetings Act that could have far-reaching legal significance.
During a hearing in a Greene County Chancery Court lawsuit which seeks to stop the Industrial Development Board of Greeneville and Greene County and US Nitrogen's plans to use the Nolichucky River for the company's water supply (see related article, page A-1), Jenkins ruled that deliberations at public meetings covered by the Open Meetings Act must be audible in order to comply with the law.
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Read More… from Judge: Audibility Required For ‘Open Meeting’
The Environmental Protection Agency does not have documents a law firm sought in a FOIA request, nor is it obligated to obtain them, a federal judge ruled.
Plaintiff Beveridge & Diamond helps "clients around the world resolve environmental, natural resource, project development and sustainability issues relating to their facilities, products and operations," according to the firm's website.
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Read More… from Judge Rules With The Environmental Protection Agency in FOIA Rebuff
The watchdog group Better Government Association filed suit Thursday against the village of Rosemont for redacting financial information from public records that the group requested for the year the village drew country music star Garth Brooks to Allstate Arena.
The association contends in its lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, that the financial information was redacted from a village response in January to a request to disclose all 2014 contracts for amusement events at Allstate Arena, which would include Brooks' series of concerts.
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Read More… from Watchdog group sues Rosemont over records related to Garth Brooks concerts
