Leading gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown need to show voters, by their own actions, that they are committed to transparency in government. Promises won’t cut it.

BY PETER SCHEER—As California voters begin the process of selecting the next  Governor of the ungovernable Golden State, the leading candidates owe them a demonstration of their commitment to government transparency.
All politicians are supportive of open-government “in principle;”  the question is whether they are committed in practice. The best test for that is a candidate’s [...]

Journalist appeals denial of mug shot of federal fugitive

A freelance journalist is appealing a federal court ruling that the U.S. Marshals Service could deny a Freedom of Information Act request for a mug shot of securities fraud fugitive, Luis Giro. -db

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
March 3, 2010
By Curry Andrew

A freelance journalist has asked a federal appeals court to consider whether [...]

Wikileaks releasing 500,000 9/11 pager intercepts

Today WikiLeaks started releasing over half a million 9/11 text pager intercepts in hopes of gaining “a nuanced understanding of how this event led to death, opportunism and war.”
Wikileaks
9/11 tragedy pager intercepts.
From 3AM on Wednesday November 25, 2009, until 3AM the following day (US east coast time), WikiLeaks is releasing over half a million US [...]

China trip: Obama’s call for greater Internet freedom gets mixed reception

Chinese citizens were glad to hear U.S. President Barack Obama’s support for greater Internet freedom in China but were skeptical about the impact of his comments. The Chinese government censored the comments on the official news agency and deleted them from Web sites. -DB
Radio Free Asia
November 17, 2009

SHANGHAI — Chinese Internet users gave mixed reactions [...]

FBI releases former Vice President Cheney’s interview on outing of CIA agent

The transcript of Dick Cheney’s FBI interview on the Valerie Plame incident was released to the public last week. Both the Bush or Obama administrations tried to keep the transcript secret. -DB

Reporters Committee on Freedom of the Press
November 2, 2009
By Amanda Becker

The FBI released documents under court order Friday that show former Vice President Dick [...]

ACLU letter to Gates: Don’t use discretionary power to withhold torture photos

The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the Defense Secretary Robert Gates urging him not to use discretionary power in a bill expected to be signed this week to keep secret photos of abuse of detainees held by the U.S. -DB
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
October 21, 2009
By Miranda Fleschert
The American Civil [...]

Secret Service denies access to 2009 White House visitor records

After the Obama administration agreed to start releasing visitor logs starting December 31,  the watchdog group Judicial Watch was denied access to White House visitor logs from January 20 through September 15 of this year and does not understand why only these records merit protection. The Secret Service just says the records do not come [...]

Obama administration asks Supreme Court to delay decision on appeal of release of detainee torture photos

The United States Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to postpone deciding whether to hear the case over whether abuse photos of detainees should be released to the public. If the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill is signed into law, provisions in the bill would allow the administration to withhold the photos from public scrutiny, making [...]

Senate moves to back Obama in barring release of torture photos

A senate Committee voted to amend the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill to include language to allow the Secretary of Defense to withhold photos of detainees who had undergone torture. -DB
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
October 8, 2009
By Miranda Fleschert
Barring the release of photos depicting abuse of detainees in U.S. custody was again [...]

Securities Exchange Commission baselessly refusing to release documents

When a requester asked for copies from the SEC of internal news clips, the SEC cited the Copyright act as the statute allowing them to refuse the request, when, case law says the Copyright act may not be used to block access. -DB
The FOIA Blog
Commentary
September 25, 2009
By Scott A. Hodes
I have been informed that the [...]

Federal court orders release of Bush clemency records

rivacy exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act will not block the release of the names of those pardoned by President George W. Bush, a federal appeals court ruled. -DB
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
August 7, 2009
By Jonathan Jones
The names of people who President George W. Bush rejected for executive clemency cannot be withheld [...]

Federal court to re-hear open meeting law case

The full appeals court in New Orleans will consider a case decided by a three-judge panel that ruled that the Texas Open Meetings Act violated elected officials’ free speech rights by requiring a quorum to discuss government business outside a public meeting. -DB
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Commentary
July 30, 2009
By Hannah Bergman
A federal appellate court [...]