Posts Tagged ‘FOIA’
Sunshine Week coverage of open government violations, FOI laws and more
To celebrate Sunshine Week we’ll be sharing exclusive audio, tipsheets and reporting on FOIA battles and open government. Newspapers across the country kicked off the week with stories analyzing FOIA responses and violations. Here’s a look at some of the coverage: Few cited for open government violations | Gannett Wisconsin Media Investigative Team Public officials…
Read MoreUsing new nonprofit law center, Hawaii’s Civil Beat wins access to police misconduct records
In the flood of paperwork that made its way each year to the Hawaii legislature, a shocking statistic slipped under the radar: About once a week the Honolulu Police Department was suspending or firing an officer for misconduct. Often the offenses were serious – abusing suspects, lying to federal investigators, tipping off drug dealers. And…
Read MoreNYPD denies FOIA request for department FOIA guide
The New York Police Department’s Freedom of Information Law Unit is refusing to release its FOIL guide. Yes, you read that right. Public records request service MuckRock asked for the document in late December. Last week a lieutenant in the department’s records unit denied the request, calling the guide “privileged as an attorney-client communication.” You…
Read MoreBehind the Story: The Boston Globe’s 4-year battle for secret settlement records
Boston Globe reporter Todd Wallack thought it would be a simple, short-term project to look into settlements made between the state of Massachusetts and some of its employees. After all, he’d done the same thing in California, uncovering an agreement between UC Davis and one of its administrators to avert a nasty lawsuit. But the…
Read MoreTo speed up ‘FOIA slowpokes,’ journalists mix praise and shame
When I was a reporter at a daily newspaper in Virginia, few things frustrated me more than slow responses to Freedom of Information Act requests. I’d put in my request and wait the allotted response time only to receive a handful of excuses. Sometimes, after weeks of nagging, I’d get the documents. Other times my…
Read MoreNJ court fact-finder recommends Gannett get its due for winning public records fight over PDFs
If a judge agrees with a court fact-finder, Gannett New Jersey could be getting $542,000 in legal fees stemming from a public records lawsuit. Gannett filed suit in 2009 after several newspapers asked for municipal payroll records in an electronic format, not PDFs. In August 2012 the company won the “precedent-setting case.” As for the…
Read More18 Chris Christie investigations coming to a publication near you
WNYC today compiled a clever list of “18 ways Christie and his officials have blocked access to information.” The release of the subpoenaed documents “exposed the Christie Administration’s involvement in Bridgegate show how the Governor’s Office has been keeping its decisions and expenditures quiet despite laws that require official business to be made public.” The…
Read MoreCourt rules in favor of S.D. paper, allows access to food stamp data
A federal appeals court has ruled that Argus Leader Media can seek government data on how much businesses take in from the food stamp program, the Sioux Falls, S.D. paper reported. On Tuesday, the U.S. Court Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a district court ruling and determined that a federal statute that created the food stamp program does not…
Read MoreAmid drug scandal, Toronto officials keep secret hundreds of emails
The Toronto Sun is appealing a decision by the City of Toronto to withhold hundreds of emails sent by staff members of beleaguered Mayor Rob Ford. The paper requested copies of emails sent and received by Ford’s former senior staffers around the time the mayor’s crack video scandal broke last year. From the Sun: The…
Read MoreVirginia Supreme Court overturns blackout, opens public access to audio recordings of oral arguments
Members of the Virginia Supreme Court have a New Year’s Resolution — become more transparent. Starting this year, members of the public will finally have access to audio recordings of oral arguments. The recordings were once public, but installation of new recording equipment in January 2008 changed that. As the Alexandria Gazette Packet first reported last summer,…
Read More