Pittsburgh: Federal court orders release of court records in hospital suit

A federal district judge ordered the release of court records relating to a lawsuit brought by a hospital system alleging that another hospital group had conspired against them. The hospital system refused to release details of an agreement settling the case claiming that the information was confidential, containing vital business information about future plans. -db [...]

Tennessee judge opens Russian adoption case

The  Tennessee judge presiding over the lawsuit over the return of an adopted 9-year-old boy to Russia ruled that the court documents be unsealed. A court memo indicated that there were no facts presented to justify sealing the case and that the 9-year-old was living in Russia far from the harsh light of publicity about [...]

Call it the Not-so-public Utilities Commission

If you’re worried about natural gas pipelines running near your home or business, prepare for a long battle to get key information from California’s Public Utilities Commission. Under a 60-year-old law, vast numbers of documents — including regulatory reports and safety studies — are secret, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. What’s more, PG&E often has [...]

Prop. 8 donors not entitled to anonymity, judge says

Donors to Prop. 8, California’s anti same-sex-marriage initiative, have no right to remain anonymous, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled. Backers of Prop. 8 had argued that campaign contributors could be subject to harassment and threats unless they were allowed dispensation from disclosure laws. But U.S. District Judge Morrison England disagreed, arguing that Prop. 8 [...]

Study suggests way to reduce government overclassification

A report by the Brennan Center for Justice proposes a pilot program for the government to insure employees are accountable for improper classification decisions. The report calls for better training for employees on what should be classified. The report also suggests building in incentives for declassifying documents. -db From The Reporters Committee for Freedom of [...]

California governor signs bill making state university foundation records public

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill requiring  state university foundations, auxiliaries and bookstores to grant public access to their records. Jon Keigwin, chief of staff for Senator Leland Yee who authored the bill, said it would open a new era in accountability and transparency,  “I’ve talked to several reporters who have been waiting for [...]

Texas Gov. Perry’s penchant for privacy

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whose campaign for president has faulted Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for purported failure to open the workings of the Fed to public view, has “adopted policies that shroud his own office in a purposeful opaqueness that confounds prying reporters – or any member of the public questioning his policies,” the [...]

Judge denies journalist information on Kentucky mining diaster

An editor for Mine Safety and Health News failed to obtain a court order for information about a federal investigation into the question of whether mine safety officials covered up a coal slurry spill in Kentucky in 2000. Three hundred gallons of the toxic waste, 25 times the size of the Exxon Vaaldez oil spill, [...]

Palin’s official Alaskan e-mails set for public airing

MSNBC, Mother Jones and ProPublica are preparing to publish 0ver 24,000 pages of former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s e-mails from her time as Alaska governor. The e-mails will be in a searchable archive. Alaskan officials are withholding 2353 pages and redacted some records. In violation of the state’s open records laws, Palin also used a [...]

Federal judge punishes private school for distroying records pertaining to alleged sexual crimes

A federal judge applied sanctions against Brooklyn’s Poly Country Day School, its trustees and current and former headmasters for stonewalling access to records that a late football coach allegedly committed a series of sexual molestations on students. In 2009 a number of alums accused the school of covering up the coach’s sexual abuses of dozens [...]

‘Crowd-sourcing’ FOIA requests – political ploy or quest for openness?

A conservative political group has taken a cue from WikiLeaks and is soliciting supporters to post Freedom of Information Act documents online – as long as they hold the Obama administration up to critical scrutiny. Steven J. Law, president of Crossroads GPS, told the New York Times he hoped the “crowd-sourcing” strategy would reveal the administration’s [...]

Opinion: Electronic Frontier Foundation finds political bias in processing of FOIA requests

The House Oversight Committee is investigating Freedom of Information Act requests processed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF)  complained last October that the department was targeting certain requesters which included journalists and activist groups for extra layers of review. EFF also says that the DHS not only failed to [...]

Sunlight Foundation resists effort to cut transparency budget

The Sunlight Foundation is fighting moves to reduce the budget for federal transparency programs to $2 million from $34 million. The cutback, contained in the Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act, has passed in the House of Representatives and awaits action in the U.S. Senate. Among other things, the funding underwrites Web sites that allow the [...]

Criticism inspires reconsideration of new Utah open records law

Just two weeks after enacting a bill to undermine the state’s open records law, the Utah governor is asking for the bill’s repeal. Withering public criticism inspired the about face. The bill made voicemails, IMs, text messages and video chats of government officials off the record; increased fees charge for public records; and put the [...]

CSU foundations must be more open to public, panel says

More than 90 foundations and private enterprises operate on California State University campuses, but it’s unclear how much of the $1.2 billion under their control should be subject to public scrutiny, an internal audit concludes. The audit panel, consisting of four campus presidents, five finance officers, a vice president and a student, said that accounting [...]

Arizona newspaper sues for release of college records of man accused of shooting congresswoman

The Arizon Republican has sued Pima Community College for records pertaining to Jared Loughner accused of killing six and wounding 13 others including Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford. The newspaper said the information is of great importance to the public to understanding Loughner’s actions and that all records sought are public records. Over the last two months, [...]

For these seven, open government is a way of life

In recognition of Sunshine Week, the Sacramento Bee’s Marjie Lundstrom has identified seven Californians who doggedly fight for open government. Heroes or kooks, she says, they share a common quality: They don’t take no for an answer in their persistent efforts to pry open government for all to see. Their drive for accountability has prompted [...]

Restrictive open records law delayed in Utah

A bill that sailed through the Utah legislature in 72 hours and would have restricted access to government documents has been put on hold at the request of the state’s governor. According to the Salt Lake Tribune the bill would “prohibit the disclosure of text messages and instant messages, allow government agencies to charge fees [...]

Berkeley’s new sunshine rules: a step forward or a detour?

The city of Berkeley has adopted an ordinance that expands access to documents, expands live streaming of meetings and bars confidential legal settlements. But, according to the local Web site Berkeleyside, it also has potential to weaken support for a more far-reaching sunshine ordinance schedule for a public vote in November 2012. The city ordinance, [...]

San Francisco task force says state attorney general candidate violated public records act

San Francisco’s Sunshine Ordinance Task Force found that San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris’s office violated the the city’s open records law when it failed to release public records requested by Steve Cooley, her opponent in the race for attorney general. -db San Francisco Chronicle October 30, 2010 By Marisa Lagos San Francisco District Attorney [...]

Group opposing secession of Santa Clarita library from county system raises privacy issues

An attorney representing a group of Santa Clarita residents opposed to the city councils 4-1 vote to secede from the Los Angeles county system says that putting the library into the hands of a private company will put patrons’ privacy at risk.  -db KHTS October 21, 2010 By Christopher Glotfelty While a nonprofit group dedicated [...]

Senator expressed uneasiness about nuclear stockpile secrecy in 1949

A U.S. senator earned an entry in his FBI file in 1949 for making a speech calling for transparency about how many nuclear bombs we possessed and how many were in production. It was only on May 3 of this year that we learned the true size of our nuclear arsenal. -db Secrecy News Commentary [...]

Public agency pensions: Editorial reaffirms public’s right-to-know

An editorial in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat calls for the Sonoma County employee association to release information on pensioners receiving over $100,000 a year. In a recent case in Sacramento County, a judge ruled that under California’s Brown Act Sacramento County could not keep pension information from the public. -db Pubilc agency pensions: Editorial [...]

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 [...]

Supreme Court ruling on employer montoring of e-mail messages leaves intact right of public’s right to know

While ruling that  an Ontario police department armed with a legitimate purpose had the right to inspect an officer’s text messages, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the pubic’s right to know under the California Public Records Act. The Court said that police officers should realize their writings may be subject to public viewing. -db Washington Post [...]

Orange County court denies Sierra Club low cost access to parcel map system

An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled in a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club  that the California Public Records Act (CPRA)  did not require the county to provide its Landbase parcel map system at little or no cost. In a ruling last year a state appeals court ruled in a First Amendment Coalition lawsuit [...]

California law creates more transparency on campaign money

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a law lowing the monetary threshold for political candidates, lobbying firms and others to file financial disclosure records online. The new threshold for cumulative contributions is $25,000, down from $50,000. -db Sacramento Bee May 10, 2010 By Jim Sanders Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation to lower the monetary [...]

In tradeoff Federal Reserve yields to pressure for greater transparency

A consensus has emerged in the Senate to allow the Federal Reserve to retain its powers to set interests rates but in return the Fed must submit to additional audits by the General Accounting Office. -db The New York Times May 10, 2010 By Sewell Chan The Federal Reserve appears to have succeeded in fending [...]

Environmental Protection Agency stonewalls on hazards of New Mexico landfills

According to a report from the EPA Inspector General, the EPA circumvented the Freedom of Information Act by not keeping records and marking unclassified records as confidential. The EPA blocked efforts of a New Mexico group investigating hazardous landfills and Albuquerque’s groundwater. -db Secrecy News Federation of American Scientists May 5, 2010 By Steven Aftergood [...]

Cal State Stanislaus admits to possessing Palin speech documents

After saying they had no records pertaining to Sarah Palin’s contract for a speech at a fundraising event, officials at California State University Stanislaus copped to possessing “800 to 900″ documents. -db California Watch May 5, 2010 By Lance Williams Is the open government ruckus over Sarah Palin’s speaking fee in Turlock sputtering toward a [...]

Two California urban counties and the state government gain high marks for transparency

After a nationwide analysis of government websites, the Sunshine Review awarded 57 state and local governments and their agencies top scores for transparency. -db Sunshine Review Press Release April 29, 2010 The best state and local government websites in America for transparency today received a “Sunny Award” from Sunshine Review. Two California counties were among [...]

Federal prosecutors complain that judge is blocking criminal probe of school webcam spying

A federal district judge has ordered that evidence be restricted to those connected to a civil lawsuit charging invasion of privacy when a school district spied on students using school-issued webcams. Federal prosecutors has asked the judge to modify the order so they can conduct a criminal investigation of the district. -db Wired April 26, [...]

Lassen County: Charter school called to task denied request to keep records private

The Westwood Unified School district has demanded that Westwood Charter School take immediate steps to correct alleged violations of California law and to provide an extensive list of documents concerning management, the budget, personnel, and student progress. -db Lassen County Times April 27, 2010 Westwood Charter School must provide all requested documents, take steps to [...]

Yolo County: Request made for full disclosure of details of shooting incident

A watchdog group has requested that the District Attorney release to the public the full report on their investigation in the case of the shooting of Luis Gutierrez. The group specifically wants to know if a sheriff deputy put a gun to a nine-year-old girl’s head during the incident. -db Yolo Judicial Watch Commentary April [...]

Marin news staff wins Freedom of Information award in CNPA contest

A team of journalists on the staff of Marin’s Independent Journal won first place for Freedom of Information reporting in the 2009 California Newsaper Publisher Association contest. The staff members won for their work in getting the county to release payroll details that shed light on budget problems. -db Marin Independent Journal April 20, 2010 [...]

Adobe criticizes Apples on open government

After criticism last year that it produced products unfriendly to open government, Adobe has attacked Apple for blocking programs for sharing government information. -db NextGov April 21, 2010 By Aliya Sternstein Adobe Systems Inc., which was criticized last year for developing products that make it difficult to extract federal data, unleashed a salvo against Apple [...]

Fox Business sues Federal Reserve again to obtain recent bailout records

Fox Business Network has added to its suit to obtain documents from the Federal Reserve on which financial firms received bailout money. The new suit seeks to learn which firms received money since the first suit was filed. -db FOXBusiness April 20 2010 By Adam Shapiro FOX Business Network has expanded its quest for documents [...]

First Amendment Coalition & SacBee file suit for names of Sacramento County retirees with highest pensions

The Sacramento Bee and the First Amendment Coalition have filed a lawsuit to force the Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System to release the names of all its retirees with pensions of over $100,000. -db The Sacramento Bee April 16, 2010 By Robert Lewis The Sacramento Bee and the First Amendment Coalition on Thursday filed a [...]

Open government advocates sue California State University campus over lack of transparency on Palin contract

Californians Aware is suing Cal State Stanislaus over their failure to provide documents about the fee they are paying Sarah Palin to speak at a June 25 fundraiser. They claim that the public’s right to know outweighs privacy concerns. -db San Francisco Chronicle April 17, 2010 By Nanette Asimov In the latest salvo in the [...]

States move to exclude 911 recordings from public record

Noting a trend to keep 911 records from the public, Citizen Media Law Project blogger Justin Silverman argues that there is a compelling public interest in allowing access to the records in the interest of shining light on the performance of public safety officers . He says laws can guarantee access and still protect the [...]

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