First Amendment & FOIA
Florida requires no training for executioners
Kevin Begos of The Tampa Tribune reports that executioners in Florida “aren’t required to have training, certification or any qualifications other than being at least 18 years old, according to Florida’s interpretation of lethal injection guidelines.” The Tampa Tribune received a copy of the state’s execution guidelines through a public records request. The protocol is…
Read MoreEmail reveals Port of Seattle police scandal
Eric Nalder and Lewis Kamb of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer expose an explicit email and Internet scandal within the Port of Seattle Police Department. The reporters used public records requests to obtain internal investigation documents and personnel records showing that nearly one-third of the Port’s police force sent, received and exchanged racist, sexist and explicit emails…
Read MoreAt what cost? A look at CA community college football programs
Brent Schrotenboer of The San Diego Union-Tribune looks at the cost of community college football programs in the state of California. There are 72 community college programs in the state of California versus 68 in the rest of the US. Some argue that they cost the state at the expense of academics. “For those that…
Read MoreSF Police spied on jounalists to find source of internal leak
A.C. Thompson of SF Weekly reports on a scandal within the San Franciso Police Department, “a cloak-and-dagger investigation that may have transgressed the department’s own rules - and definitely torched the careers of a pair of ethical police officers who dared to air their criticisms of the SFPD.” Following the 2003 leak of an internal…
Read MoreRecords reveal extensive White House access to some of Abramoff’s cronies
Sharon Theimer of the Associated Press reports that recently released Secret Service visitor logs reveal extensive “inside access” to presidential aides by Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed, both of whom are linked to Jack Abramoff. The records indicate at least 115 appointments since 2001, some lasting upwards of 12 hours. The release of the records…
Read MoreNY business incentive program wasted millions
Mike McAndrew of The Post-Standard used Empire Zone records obtained through Freedom of Information Law requests to show that New York’s program to attract new business spent $84 million in recent years on out-of-state power companies with old and dirty facilities and little or no job growth. For instance, taxpayers paid $22 million to NRG…
Read MoreLost opportunities in foster care
Jenifer B. McKim of The Orange County Register writes about lost opportunities to save a 10-month-old foster child who was returned to his mother and brutally murdered. “The investigation found that nearly two dozen abused or neglected children who had been under protection of the Juvenile Court in Orange County have died over the past…
Read MoreSexual misconduct and military recruiters
Associated Press reporter Martha Mendoza reports on a probe into sexual misconduct by military recruiters. In a six-month investigation, the AP found “at least 35 Army recruiters, 18 Marine Corps recruiters, 18 Navy recruiters and 12 Air Force recruiters were disciplined for sexual misconduct or other inappropriate behavior with potential enlistees in 2005, according to…
Read MoreFlorida plans for potential Cuban exodus
Kevin Begos, of the Tampa Tribune, reports that Florida has a plan in place to handle the potential influx of Cuban immigrants into the state. The Tribune obtained the state’s Mass Migration Response plan through a public records request. Plans include “setting up long-term detention sites across the country” to help defray the logistical stress…
Read More$1 million grant issued to study restrictions on public records
Richard Willing of USA Today reports that “The federal government will pay a Texas law school $1 million. . .to produce a national “model statute” that state legislatures and Congress could adopt to ensure that potentially dangerous information ‘stays out of the hands of the bad guys.’” The grant was included in this year’s budget…
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