Gawker opens site to probe WikiLeaks

Citing Wikileaks secretive mode of operation, Gawker announced a new website, Wikileakileaks.org, to provide the public details of the organization’s operation. -db
ValleyWag
Commentary
August 31, 2010
Secret-sharing website Wikileaks.org’s tagline is “We open governments.” But the organization itself is about as open as North Korea. That’s why we’ve launched Wikileakileaks.org: your source for Wikileaks-related secrets, documents and rumors!
Wikileaks [...]

State Department analyst indicted for disclosing secrets about North Korea to Fox News

The Obama administration has taken an aggressive stance toward individuals leaking secret information to the media. -db
The New York Times
August 27, 2010
By Scott Shane
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal grand jury in Washington has indicted a State Department analyst suspected of disclosing top-secret information about North Korea to Fox News, the third time the Obama administration [...]

Federal appeals court orders disclosure of banks likely to have failed without bailout

The full U.S. Court of Appeals in New York refused to review a decision by the court’s three-judge panel requiring the Federal Reserve Board to identify banks that may have failed without the federal bailout. -db
Bloomberg News
August 23, 2010
Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) — An appeals court refused to reconsider a decision compelling the Federal Reserve Board [...]

Tulare County supervisors likely to evade suit on alleged open meeting violations

A superior court judge indicated she would dismiss an open meeting lawsuit against the Tulare County Board of Supervisors from lack of solid evidence. The supervisors were alleged to have violated California’s Brown Act by meeting regularly for lunch, they claimed, to build team solidarity. -db
Visalia Times-Delta
August 21, 2010
By Valerie Gibbons
A Tulare County Superior [...]

Porterville City Council rejects proposal to limit public comments

The Porterville City Council decided not to restrict public comments to those items on the agenda even though members of the community wanted to comment on the agenda would have to wait their turn.
California’s open meeting law says the public has a right to comment on issues before government agencies make decisions. -db
The Porterville Recorder
August [...]

Federal transparency: Changes in administration raise questions

Transparency advocates are wondering if recent changes in Obama administration management mean that Obama is stepping back from his commitment to open government. -db
NextGov
August 16, 2010
By Aliya Sternstein
As the Obama administration gently pushes agencies to follow their transparency plans, recent changes in key management positions at the White House have watchdog groups concerned the open government [...]

Texas cities’ online checkbooks let residents see where tax dollars are going

Cities across Texas are starting to open their books to the public by posting their check registers online.
The Dallas Morning News
August 9, 2010
By Ian McCann
Open government advocates applaud the trend, though they note that in many cases the [...]

Bauer to assume ethics, transparency responsibilities

White House Counsel Robert Bauer will assume responsibilities for lobbying, transparency, government reform and a host of other government operations issues once White House ethics adviser Norman Eisen departs for his new role as ambassador to the Czech Republic, senior administration officials confirmed Friday.
The Washington Post
August 6, 2010
By Ed O’Keefe

The move [...]

Performance reviews of federal contractors go online

A new law requires the Office of Management and Budget to publish contractor integrity information online. -db
NextGov
August 4, 2010
By Aliya Sternstein
A bill President Obama recently signed requires the Office of Management and Budget to disclose on a public website contractor integrity information housed in a new vendor performance database, reversing a recent [...]

Conn. governor vetoes bill to fix campaign-finance law

Gov. M. Jodi Rell followed through Aug. 2 with her promise to veto a bill that attempts to fix Connecticut’s campaign-finance law after a federal appeals court found parts of it unconstitutional.
News
August 4, 2010
By The Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. —The Republican governor issued her veto on the same the day the [...]

11th Circuit blocks extra funds for Fla. governor hopeful

A federal appeals court’s decision late last week effectively blocked Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum from receiving matching public funds for every dollar beyond $24.9 million spent by his self-financed opponent.
News
August 2, 2010
By The Associated Press
ATLANTA —The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on [...]

Leaked Afghan war docs could spur crackdown on info access

After the massive Afghan war data spill by Wikileaks, some veteran intelligence officers and experts are calling for a tightening of access to information and more monitoring in the spy community’s lower levels.

July 29, 2010
By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Call it the big information chill, looming across the military and intelligence communities. After [...]

Texas cities can’t challenge state’s open-meetings law

Four Texas cities cannot join more than a dozen elected officials in a lawsuit aimed at overturning the Texas Open Meetings Act, a federal judge ruled yesterday.
July 29, 2010
By The Associated Press
PECOS, Texas —U.S. District Judge Robert Junell said the cities of Alpine, Pflugerville, Rockport and Wichita Falls cannot sue Texas [...]

First Amendment Guru Floyd Abrams on the WikiLeaks Situation [VIDEO]

July 28, 2010
By Wall Street Journal
 

 
On Monday morning, we did some looking into the legal issues surrounding WikiLeaks’ decision to unveil some 92,000 previously classified documents on the public, in connection with a handful of media outlets.
The bottom line, some First Amendment experts informed us: the government certainly had the right to go after and [...]

WikiLeaks claims benefits to releasing classified Afghan war documents

While the Obama administration downplays the importance of the classified field reports on the Afghanistan war released by  WikiLeaks July 25, WikiLeaks founder Julian Asange says the reports will increase transparency on the war and strengthen democracy and governance. -db
WikiLeaks claims release of classified Afghan war documents beneficial
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/26wiki.html
The New York Times
July 25, 2010
By Eric Schmitt
WikiLeaks.org, [...]

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
WASHINGTON (AP) — The department [...]

Judge rejects ACLU’s request for information on detainees

A federal judge in New York has decided that he lacks the authority to order the government to disclose information regarding the treatment of Sept. 11 detainees – even if the government’s actions were unlawful.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
July 20, 2010
By Brian Westley
“Courts are not invested with the competence to second-guess the [...]

Agency mulling whether to release county pension pay data

Bakersfield.com
July 15, 2010
By James Burger
The Kern County Employees’ Retirement Association, the agency that invests taxpayer money to fund county employee pensions, has kept the size of each member’s retirement check a secret for years.
But the legal argument KCERA lawyers say demands secrecy is crumbling in courts across California, forcing them to choose between angering retirees [...]

Washington Technology: House passes bill to reduce improper payments

The House passed legislation to regulate accounting practices and identify possible government fraud. -SMD
Washington Technology
July 15, 2010
By Matthew Weigelt
With an eye on the roughly $110 billion in inproper payments agency made in fiscal 2009, the House today passed legislation to toughen federal accounting practices.
The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (S. 1508), which passed the Senate June 23, would [...]

Judge orders Sacramento to release pension details

A judge has ordered Sacramento County’s retirement system to make its pension information public.
In a ruling this week, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Allen Sumner decided the names of retirees and how much they receive should be released.
The lawsuit was brought against the Sacramento County Employee’s Retirement System by The Sacramento Bee and First Amendment [...]

Details of D.C. tech office investigation released

The District’s technology office is overly reliant on contractors, too eager to award jobs to under-qualified local businesses and not nearly aggressive enough in its monitoring of their work, setting up a system that is easily defrauded and wastes piles of taxpayer dollars, a new report finds.
The D.C. Council’s investigation of procurement practices at the [...]

Guam Board of Allied Health Examiners bans recording devices from board meetings

No recording devices or cell phones are allowed at the Government of Guam Board Meetings, according to a recent Guam Board Resolution. Senator Tina Muña Barnes accuses GBAHE of violating the First Amendment. -SMD
Pacific News Center
News
July 12, 2010
By Guam News
Guam – Senator Tina Muña Barnes has written a letter to Attorney General John Weisenberger seeking [...]

Iowans lack clear relief when open government requests are denied

Public records requests are often denied to citizens of Iowa, who have no way to ensure that the state’s Sunshine Laws are properly followed.  -SMD
The Iowa Independent
News/Commentary
July 12, 2010
By Adam B. Sullivan
From rural township boards to the governor’s office, each level of government in Iowa is responsible for carrying out the state’s open records and open [...]

Hard times for Illinois, but not for governor’s staff

Gov. Pat Quinn, D-Illinois, has been raising staff members’ salaries, while cutting back spending costs, the Associated Press reports. -SMD
AP News
July 7, 2010
By JOHN O’CONNOR
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has handed out raises — some of more than 20 percent — to his staff while proclaiming a message of “shared sacrifice” and planning [...]

Hillary Clinton at the Community of Democracies

A commentary by Washington Post’s columnist Anne Applebaum on Hillary Clinton’s Speech at the 10th anniversary meeting of the Community of Democracies in Krakow, Poland. Was democracy promotion discredited with the Iraq invasion? Are democracies in trouble? -SMD
From “Democracy in Trouble”
Op-Ed Column
Washington Post
July 5, 2010
By Anne Applebaum
A riot of golden curlicues embellished the theater boxes; in [...]

Supreme Court rules names on anti-gay petition can be made public

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled for public disclosure of names on a petition to overturn a gay rights law in Washington state. Those for disclosure say it is an important victory for the public’s right to check signatures and to discover who are supporting particular political stances. -db

SeattlePI.com
June 24, 2010
By Chris Grygiel
The Supreme Court ruled [...]

California university opens Palin event to media

California State University, Sanislaus finally agreed to open its June 25 fundraiser featuring Sarah Palin to the media. Officials have refused to release documents concerning the fee Palin will receive for appearing. -db

Washington Post
June 19 2010
By Robin Hindery
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — After months of requests from reporters, a California university has agreed to allow [...]

Hughson: Six challengers run in recall election over Brown Act violations

Six Hughson citizens have stepped up to run for seats on the City Council in the August recall election. -db

The Turlock Journal
June 11, 2010
By Maegan Martens
At the end of the candidacy filing period on Thursday, six Hughson residents submitted their applications to fight for a seat on the City Council in the Aug. 24 recall [...]

Judge rules out TV for closing arguments in Prop. 8 hearing

Federal Judge Vaughn Walker denied a media request to televise arguments in the California same-sex marriage trial without providing reasons for his decision. -db

San Francisco Chronicle
June 10, 2010
By Bob Egelko

SAN FRANCISCO — The only members of the public who will get to watch next week’s closing arguments in the trial over same-sex marriage in [...]

Del Mar: Parents want school board to fulfill campaign promises for open government and full transparency

Four parents have criticized the Del Mar Unified School District Board of Trustees for not allowing the community a reasonable opportunity to weigh in on the selection of a new superintendent. They say that bending the state’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, is not responsible leadership. -db

Del Mar Times
May 26, 2010
By Suzanne Hall, [...]

ACLU sues over access to surveillance documents

The American Civil Liberties filed suit in federal district court to obtain documents concerning the federal government’s surveillance of U.S. citizens using the electronic media to communicate with people overseas. -db

FierceGovernment
June 7 2010
By David Perera
The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit June 3 in a New York federal district court to receive documents pertaining to [...]

Los Angeles supervisors’ meeting on Capitol Hill said to violate California open meeting law

Full Disclosure Network, a cable news outlet, charged that their reporter and a camera crew were illegally ejected from meetings in which five members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors met with Senators Diane Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and members of Congress. -db

PR Newswire
June 7, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. – /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Ten Capitol Hill meetings [...]

Newspaper publisher association urges newspapers to defend Brown Act

Noting that the state legislature is currently considering weakening provisions of the Brown Act, the California Newspaper Publishers Association has asked newspapers to run editorials in support of fully funding the Brown Act so that government agencies must post an agenda 72 hours in advance and then stick to it. -db

California Newspaper Publishers Association
Opinion
June 4, [...]

San Diego schools admits to error in alerting media of two meetings

After a prompting from a reporter, the San Diego Unified School District acknowledged that they had to post and notify the media of all meetings 24 hours in advance. The Board of Trustees had posted notices for two meetings properly but failed to give the media adequate notice. -db

San Diego News Network
Opinion
June 3, 2010
By Marsha [...]

San Leandro schools holds up action on new superintendent’s title for public comment

The San Leandro School Board approved a contract for a new superintendent but did not remove the interim tag from his title so that the public could have a chance to give their input on the promotion. -db

East Bay The Citizen.com
June 3, 2010
By Steven Tavares
San Leandro Interim Superintendent Cindy Cathey received a new contract [...]

Transparency presents challenges for citizens

Nick Judd of techPresident writes that open data alone does not allow the public to participate meaningfully. The citizenry needs training in assessing the reliability of  data and also in interpreting it. -db

techPresident
May 26, 2010
By Nick Judd

This morning, danah boyd summed up the problem with the open data movement in a simple declarative statement: “Transparency [...]

Defense Department clarifies policy on opening fundamental research

To discourage endemic secrecy for military research, the Defense Department reaffirmed a Reagan administration policy that the products of fundamental research should be presumed open unless nation security required them to be classified. -db
Secrecy News
June 3, 2010
By Steven Aftergood

In a move that may help to discourage habitual secrecy in military-funded research, the Department of Defense [...]

Open government a campaign issue in California county

Candidates in Tulare County supervisor districts 4 and 5 are weighing in on open government as citizens have been questioning whether supervisors’ actions adhere to the spirit and letter of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. -db

Visalia Times-Delta
June 3, 2010
By David Y. Castellon

The state’s open government laws are a major talking point [...]

Federal government challenges public to solve problems facing country

As part of the Obama administration’s Open Government Initiative, the General Services Administration will run contests with cash prizes to involve the public in solving real problems in government. -db
Wired
May 27, 2010
By Eliot Van Buskirk
The government’s prize-based challenge challenge system for crowdsourcing solutions to the government’s problems, announced Thursday, is one of several recent [...]

Prop. 8 supporters oppose cameras in court for final arguments

A lawyer for the Prop. 8 campaign committee sent a letter to the federal judge hearing the lawsuit challenging the proposition arguing that a broadcast of the closing arguments set for June 16 would have negative effects on the judge including making him avoid unpopular decisions. -db

San Francisco Chronicle
May 25, 2010
By Bob Egelko
Sponsors of California’s [...]

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