ACLU challenges federal government on records of drone attacks killing U.S. citizens in Yemen

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Obama administration to force them to release records related to the deaths by drone attacks of three U.S. citizens in Yemen. The administration cited national security in denying the request for the documents under the Freedom of Information Act, but the ACLU said the drone program should [...]

California: Hanford City Council may be correct in withholding packet of allegations

The Hanford City Council has so far not released an anonymous packet of documents to the public and may never. The documents make allegations against city leaders which the council discussed in closed meetings. Jim Ewert, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publisher Association, said the council may be on safe ground in denying public [...]

LA Times editorial criticizes supervisors for excessive closed door meetings

An editorial in the Los Angeles Times says the board of supervisors for Los Angeles County “displays its contempt for the public” by closing the door before discussing such vital issues as the shift of convicts from state facilities to the county. The Times argues that the mere wish to speak frankly does not allow [...]

California: Long Beach wants state court to keep names of officers involved in shootings secret

Long Beach and a police officers group are asking an appeals court  to overturn a lower court ruling that the city must provide the names of officers involved in shootings. After a controversial shooting of an unarmed man in Long Beach in 2010, the Los Angeles Times asked the city to provide the identities of [...]

Public has options in dealing with Twitter’s new country-specific censorship

After Twitter announced last week they would engage in country-specific censorship, EFF’s Eva Galperin says there are ways to fight the plan including checking to see if Twitter makes use of the Chilling Effects Project which publishes a country’s censorship orders and puts it in an archive. Galperin also says that a user can circumvent [...]

Auto safety firm sues for records of government investigation of sudden acceleration

Safety Research and Strategies is suing the federal government for details of their investigation into the sudden acceleration of a Prius last year. Federal regulators have found no evidence that electronic systems were the cause of the unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles, but Safety Research is not satisfied with that conclusion. -db From The New [...]

California: Ventura County school district leads the county in open meeting complaints

The Rio School District has over half of the 36 complaints about violations of the state’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, according to a report by the district attorney’s office. The office said it might have to take legal action against the district unless they paid greater attention to the issue, perhaps providing training [...]

Video of drug agent shooting himself ruled matter of public interest

An agent for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration lost a ruling in federal appeals court when the court ruled that  a video that went viral of his accidentally shooting himself during a public lecture did not violate the  Privacy Act. The agent claimed that the video was part of an investigation into the shooting and [...]

California: Los Alamitos councilman in trouble for violating confidentiality of closed meetings

The Los Alamitos City Council voted 3-1 to prosecute Councilman Warren Kusumoto for an alleged violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. Kusumoto had disclosed that in closed-door discussions on a lawsuit against the city, he had a different viewpoint  from the council majority. The City Attorney said in that disclosure he [...]

Federal judge rules for public interest group seeking files of criminal investigation of House member

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. found that the Justice Department could not withhold files from the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics of their criminal investigation of U.S. Rep. Don Young of Alaska. The Justice Department did not file any charges against Young and withheld the files on privacy grounds. -db From the Anchorage [...]

California: Watchdog discovers serious open meeting violation by Visalia City Council

A Visalia resident discovered that without public hearing last October, the Visalia City Council approved a $50,000 expense account for its newly appointed Elections Task Force. The city claims it feared a lawsuit so was justified in acting in closed session, but no one was threatening to sue over the creation of the task force. [...]

Tulare supervisor lunch lawsuit goes to California Supreme Court

The lawsuit over closed lunch meetings of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors is going to the California Supreme Court. The suit centered on 30 closed lunch meetings in 2009 during which at least a majority of the supervisors were present. The supervisors claimed they never discussed county business during the lunches. -db From the [...]

California state senator introduces covey of open government bills

California Senator Leland Yee of San Francisco intends to introduce a number of bills in 2012 to give the public greater access to the workings of their government. The bills include SB 1000 keeping the California Public Utilities Commission from withholding information about their regulation of PG&E responsible for a recent catastropic fire and SB [...]

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 [...]

Federal appeals court rules restrictions on PACs unconstitutional

The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled unconstitutional a Washington state law restricting political action committees from taking in donations of $5000 or more in the last three weeks of an election. The state argued that the law was intended to protect voters allowed to mail their ballots 18 days before the election. -db [...]

Federal appeals court supports CIA in refusal to confirm or deny that records of grandfather exist

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. ruled that the CIA had the right to refuse to confirm or deny existence of records named in a Freedom of Information Act request. The refusal is called a Glomar response. The CIA had refused to provide information to a US. citizen seeking information on his [...]

California: Frequent closed meetings by Stockton City Council raise questions

The increasing numbers of closed door sessions conducted by the Stockton City Council has prompted open government advocates to protest the practice. Under a threat of bankruptcy, the council has met in closed meetings three times for every two open meetings. The council may meet in closed session to discuss certain financial matters, but in [...]

California: Dunsmuir City Council members must face open meeting lawsuit

A county judge ruled that four members of the Dunsmuir City Council must defend itself against allegations that they violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. A citizen sued the council for alleged conflict of interest and holding meetings without public participation. -db From the Record Searchlight, January 2, 2012, by Sean Longoria. [...]

Amendments to California open meeting law require improved disclosure

Under amendments to the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, government agencies are now required to disclose more details about items under consideration at meetings. The amendments will go into effect, January 1 of 2012. The amendments also require agencies to provide notice in writing to the media of special meetings and notice by telephone [...]

Federal agencies evading freedom of informaton requests

A recent study found that under the Obama administration, in 2010 federal agencies used exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act 33 percent more than they did under George W. Bush in 2008. Watchdog groups are now trying to hold Obama to his pledge to make his administration the most transparent and accountable in history. [...]

California: Galt school board caught in open meeting violation

An ex-school board member alleged that the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District board violated the Brown Act, California’s open meeting act by not allowing public comments while conducting public interviews to fill a vacant seat on the board. The board has agreed to repeat the meeting to satisfy the Brown Act. -db From the [...]

Public wants broadcast of U.S. Supreme Court health care hearings

A recent poll showed that 72 percent of the public were in favor of allowing TV cameras into the U.S. Supreme Court hearings on the new health care law. C-Span has asked the court for permission to film the proceedings to give its audience live coverage. Several justices have voiced vehement opposition to allowing cameras [...]

Justice Department freezes music blog for a year supposedly for copyright infringement

The Justice Department seized the assets of a popular music blog, Dajaz1, reportedly for violations of copyright, but did not give the blog a day in court to fight the action. Writing in TechDirt, Mike Masnick says it was an outrageous act, “I suspect that nearly all of you [readers] would say that’s a classic [...]

Bloomberg News makes point-by-point response to Fed charge of ‘egregious errors’ in story on bank bailouts

After Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve sent a letter to lawmakers criticizing Bloomberg News for “egregious errors” in a story on the bank bailout, Bloomberg responded with a detailed rebuttal of the key charges. Among other issues, the rebuttal addressed factual errors, disputes over transparency, and fairness in reporting. -db From Bloomberg News, December [...]

State Department still says cables WikiLeaks released last year are classified

The Obama administration is still insisting that cables WikiLeaks released last year are classified even though the cables were released by the State Department in compliance with a Freedom of Information Act request. The classified information concerned targeted killings, detention at Guantanamo, torture and rendition. -db From a commentary for the American Civil Liberties Union, [...]

Federal government allows access to Medicare data to rate doctors

Medicare is making its database of claims available to the public to allow assessment of doctors. A court ruling has blocked access to this information for decades. Critics of the release warn that the data could be easily misinterpreted in assessing doctors. -db From KSPR (ABC), December 5, 201, by Joanna Small. Full story  

California: District judge orders state legislators to disclose budget records

In a case brought by the Los Angeles Times, the Pasadena Sun and the Sacramento Bee, a Sacramento Superior Court judge ordered the California Assembly to release budget records under the California Public Records Act. Lawyers for the Assembly did not participate in oral arguments before the judge last week. -db From the Los Angeles [...]

California: Citizen loses suit to gain access to domestic violence registry

A California appeals court ruled that a man who wanted to find out if he were registered in the Domestic Violence Restraining Order System could not have access under the Information Practices Act of 1977. A judge had earlier ruled that the registry was exempt under the California Public Records Act. -db From the Metropolitan [...]

San Francisco federal appeals court to allow broadcast of same-sex marriage hearing

When the lawyers argue before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the appeal of the striking down of Prop 8, the referendum prohibiting same-sex marriage, the proceedings will be videotaped and then televised. A federal district court had ruled Prop 8 unconstitutional for violating equal protection and due process rights. -db From the [...]

California: Open meeting violation alleged by Encinitas City Council

In a special meeting called to discuss a draft of the general plan, a member of the city council spoke on an item not on the agenda, a possible violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. A council member said the council did not violate the law in that members were allowed [...]

California: Alleged violation of open meeting law for Pasadena City Council

The Pasadena City Council may have blundered when they met recently to discuss job cuts in the face of budget problems. The meeting agenda was posted at 9 p.m. on a Sunday and the meeting began at 8:30 a.m. the next day. A full 24 hour meeting notice is required by the Brown Act, the [...]

Reporter sues to find out how Bush and Cheney sought to shape perceptions of their administration

A Gawker reporter is suing the National Archives and Records Administration for information about how former President George W. Bush and his vice president, Dick Cheney tried to shape public opinion during their tenure. The reporter is not seeking the Bush administration documents protected under law from disclosure but rather the identities of those who [...]

Group challenges California government agencies for increasing fees for duplicating documents

A California research group says that government agencies trying to cope with budget shortfalls are resorting to increasing fees for copies of public documents in violation of the state’s Public Records Act. The act prohibits charges for retrieving public records to the costs of duplication. But Sacramento County charges $13 for page 1 and $3 [...]

California: State senator bids to improve access to Public Utility Commission documents

State Senator Leland Yee of San Francisco will introduce a bill in January to repeal a law requiring a vote of the Pubic Utilities Commission before most records can be released to the public. Yee is sponsoring the bill after allegations that Pacific Gas and Electric was less than forthcoming with documents concerning the pipeline [...]

California: Allegations that Patterson City Council violated state open meeting law

Jim Ewert of the California Newspaper Publisher Association said that the Patterson City Council violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting act, when it failed to provide the identity of those who voted in a closed session for an interim city attorney. Ewert said it did not matter that the rankings of candidates occurred [...]

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 [...]

California: Former Manhattan Beach city manager sues for invasion of privacy

A former Manhattan Beach city manager is suing the city for disclosing records that he claims were supposed to be secret as part of a severance package. The city attorney said the city was acting in the public interest in its commitment to transparency. The former city manager felt that allegations of sexual harassment made [...]

California: Barstow School Board alleged to violate open meetings laws

An expert in open government law challenged the Barstow School Board contention that they had not violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, in failing to report a vote out of closed session. The school board was considering the resignation of the school superintendent. -db From the Desert Dispatch, November 21, 2011. by [...]

Opinion: Los Angeles schools errs in keeping teacher ratings from public

The Los Angeles Unified School District is thwarting the public’s right to know how teachers rated in value-added evaluations saying that the disclosures would be “embarrassing and painful” to teachers. Parents have the right to know how students are faring under their teachers argues Jim Newton in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. -db [...]

Washington state: Supreme Court rules anti-gay petitioners can’t hide identities

The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed disclosure of signatures for a Washington referendum to overturn a law granting domestic partners the same rights as married couples. The opponents of gay marriage had argued that they would be subject to threats, harassment and reprisals if the signatures were released to the public. -db From the Courthouse [...]

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