FOI At Work: D.C. Unrivaled in Parking Ticket Revenue

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Charles N. Davis

The cost of gasoline may be gnawing a hole in many wallets, but the cost of going nowhere in the District cost people who failed to mind the parking meter a record $92.6 million last year. That amount for fiscal 2011 was more than $12 million higher than the previous year, according to data that the American Automobile Association obtained under a Freedom [...]

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When Someone Asks You Why Transparency Matters…

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Charles N. Davis

You can point them to stories such as this : Millions of dollars in White House money has helped pay for New York Police Department programs that put entire American Muslim neighborhoods under surveillance. The money is part of a little-known grant intended to help law enforcement fight drug crimes. Since the terrorist attacks of [...]

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Deportation Cases Drop By A Third, According to TRAC

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Charles N. Davis

FOI at Work: The number of deportation cases filed by federal immigration officials dropped by nearly a third in the first three months of the fiscal year, according to a report by the Syracuse University Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. The drop recorded in the last three months of 2011 may reflect the Obama administration’s plan to focus [...]

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Want to Read a Great Column on Why FOI Matters?

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Charles N. Davis

Look no further than here. This, people, is why access to government information is no luxury, and can never, ever be taken for granted.

Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, 6. Overcoming denials, FOI At Work | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Mugshot Publications: A Tough FOI Issue

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Charles N. Davis

This one is a bit difficult for me, until I place the situation into abstract First Amendment doctrine: these sites are acquiring public records, legally, of photos made, then publishing them. Yes, there are ample grounds here to debate the ethics of such publications, and the take-down fees are another matter altogether. But trying to [...]

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FOI At Work: Steve Jobs’ FBI File Released…

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Charles N. Davis

All over the news today, brought to you by FOI: The FBI released a decades-old file it kept on Apple co-founder Steve Jobs that noted his past drug use and cites interviews with people who say he had a penchant to “distort reality.” The 191 pages of FBI records are part of a 1991 background [...]

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U.S. Conference of Mayors Secretly Coordinated Occupy Response…

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Charles N. Davis

After denying that they are coordinating responses to Occupy Wall Street, the U.S. Conference of Mayors recently surveyed city administrations across the country about the movement. In late November, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request , the District of Columbia mayor’s office received a request to update its answers to the survey. [...]

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What’s the Worst FOI Fail of 2011? Nominate it for the Black Hole Award…

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Charles N. Davis

The Society of Professional Journalists is seeking nominations for its Black Hole Award. The Black Hole serves as the counterpoint to the Sunshine Award, highlighting particularly heinous violations of the public’s right to know. By exposing the bad actors, we hope to educate members of the public to their rights and call attention to those [...]

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The Kind of Reporting FOI Makes Possible….

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Charles N. Davis

Kudos to Milwaukee (Wis.) Journal Sentinel investigative reporter Gina Barton, whose excellent October 2011 three-part series “Both Sides of the Law” found that at least 93 Milwaukee police officers had been disciplined for violating laws and ordinances, but didn’t lose their jobs. Barton said it took nearly two years of records requests, a court case, and $7,500 in [...]

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In Chesterfield, Missouri, Driving So Drunk You Pee Your Pants = Illegal Parking Citation

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

A Patch columnist spins a tale sure to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck: I filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office about Chesterfield refusing to release a 2011 arrest report, incident and accident reports of ex-sports announcer Dan McLaughlin, as required by state law. McLaughlin was arrested DWI [...]

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