Obama administration capitulates in immigration record dispute

The Obama administration is no longer fighting a battle to avoid disclosing legal memos over plans to force local law enforcement to participate in Secure Communities, an immigration enforcement program. The administration also admitted that it gave a federal  judge false information last year in one of the hearings on the case. -db From a [...]

Police say L.A. Times investigation of pensions could endanger lives

The Los Angeles County police union is fighting the Los Angeles Times over the newspaper’s quest for pension information that the union claims if made public could endanger the lives of retired officers. In a lawsuit filed in Superior Court, the union argued that in pitting the public’s right to know against legitimate safety issues, [...]

U.S. Supreme Court rules for transparency in Navy records case

The Supreme Court gave open government a significant victory by reversing decades of practice in discrediting a prominent interpretation used by government agencies to reject Freedom of Information Act requests. The Navy had tried to use an FOIA exemption for records “related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency” to reject [...]

Prison Legal News denied death-scene photos of man murdered in prison

A federal appeals court ruled that releasing images, video and audio recordings concerning a murder in a Colorado federal prison would violate the privacy of the murdered prisoner’s family. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press January 11, 2011 By Christine Beckett Releasing certain images, video and audio recordings regarding a prison murder [...]

Federal district court denies ACLU request for immigrant detainee death records

A federal district court in Washington, D.C. ruled that the Department of Homeland Security had acted within the exemptions to open record laws in withholding e-mails and records requested by the ACLU of the deaths of immigrants who died while in detention. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press September 24, 2010 By [...]

Judge to EPA: Stop destroying records Union Pacific wants

A federal judge ordered the Environmental Protection Agency yesterday to stop destroying records Union Pacific requested about lead contamination in Omaha. An expert was appointed to make sure the agency complies. August 27, 2010 By The Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. —The judge’s order resolved several issues the railroad and EPA couldn’t agree on when discussing [...]

Railroad worries EPA will keep destroying records

The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to stop destroying records Union Pacific requested about lead contamination in Omaha, but the railroad worries the federal agency won’t protect all relevant information. August 25, 2010 By The Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. — Documents filed yesterday show Union Pacific Corp. and the EPA agreed on most aspects of [...]

Immigration judge blasts leak in Obama’s aunt’s asylum case

A judge who granted asylum to President Barack Obama’s African aunt ruled she deserved to stay in the United States because a federal government official leaked her status to a news organization, making her a potential target for persecution in her native Kenya. August 18, 2010 By The Associated Press BOSTON — U.S. Immigration Judge [...]

Gov. Rell signs bill to protect senior citizens from Freedom of Information Act

Governor M. Jodi Rell today highlighted legislation that protects the privacy of senior citizens by exempting their personal information from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosure requests of publicly operated senior centers. July 22, 2010 By  The Middle Town Press House Bill 5278, An Act Concerning Senior Centers and the Freedom of Information Act, excludes [...]

Homeland Security sent freedom of information requests through political filter

For at least a year, the Homeland Security Department detoured requests for federal records to senior political advisers for highly unusual scrutiny, probing for information about the requesters and delaying disclosures deemed too politically sensitive, according to nearly 1,000 pages of internal e-mails obtained by The Associated Press. AP July 21, 2010 By Ted Bridis [...]

Federal agency accused of hiding data on dangers of cell phone use in cars

Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collected alarming data in 2003 of the safety risk of cellphones in automobiles, the agency failed to release their findings for political reasons. -DB New York Times  July 21, 2009  By MATT RICHTEL In 2003, researchers at a federal agency proposed a long-term study of 10,000 drivers to assess [...]