The New York Post has settled a landmark lawsuit charging that the city Department of Education routinely violated the state Freedom of Information Law. Under the settlement, the DOE not only turned over public records it had withheld for up to 20 months, but agreed to reform what The Post called a “pattern and practice” […]
Tag: New York FOI
The biggest police union in New York City is suing the mayor to stop the release of body cam footage
New York City’s biggest police union has launched a lawsuit against Mayor Bill de Blasio in a bid to stop the release of all body camera footage obtained by New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) filed its lawsuit on January 9, asserting that the forced release of video from […]
FOIL request yields scant record of phone calls because Cuomo uses others’ lines
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a reputation for making very frequent phone calls. But you wouldn’t be able to tell from public records. During the first seven months of 2017, only 102 phone numbers dialed by Cuomo — an average of one call every two days — came up in a public records search. Those calls […]
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The New York TImes editorial: Opening Up New York’s Public Records
Why has it been so hard for New York to pass a law that would make it a bit more likely for people to get that information? Welcome to Albany, the land of outsized egos and petty turf wars, where good ideas go to die every day. Now Gov. Andrew Cuomo has an opportunity to […]
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Editorial: New York government is still far from transparent
There’s been an amazing push the past month by newspapers, good government groups, citizens organizations and lawmakers for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to sign a bill that would require judges to force government bodies to pay court and attorneys fees when a citizen is unreasonably denied access to a public record. We’re among those who think […]
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Editorial: Strengthen FOIL in New York
If you've ever filed a Freedom of Information request with a public agency in New York, you probably know that it can be way too hard to get the goods.
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Editorial: New York law hides police misconduct from the public
The uniquely restrictive New York State law that is used to conceal the disciplinary histories of police officers — even some who have committed crimes — reared its head again last week in misconduct proceedings against the officer who brutalized the retired tennis player James Blake during a mistaken arrest in Manhattan last month.
The state law on officers’ histories is the only one of its kind in the nation. Continue…
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Why the public doesn’t see more NYPD disciplinary records
The New York City Council will consider a pair of bills aimed at identifying and monitoring police officers like the one who tackled retired tennis star James Blake earlier this month.
Councilman Dan Garodnick is introducing a bill to create an Early Intervention System in response to the debate over the NYPD’s ability to police its own. Continue…
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Opinion: Are pre-denial claims communications admissable in court?
From Property Casualty 360: The attorney work-product privilege is one of the three primary privileges incorporated into Exemption 5 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5). It protects materials prepared by an attorney or others in anticipation of litigation, ostensibly shielding materials that would disclose the attorney’s theory of the case or trial strategy. President Lyndon B. Johnson originally signed FOIA into law by on July 4, 1966 and it went into effect the following year.
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NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for December 28, 2012
A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week:
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Read More… from NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for December 28, 2012