A bill sponsored by S.C. Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, would make it cheaper and faster for citizens to get copies of public documents using the state Freedom of Information Act, officials from the S.C. Press Association said. The measure passed out of a House subcommittee Wednesday morning, “We’ve heard from numerous people, and legislators have [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: fees, foi reform, South Carolina | Leave a Comment »
Two bills that would make it easier to obtain concealed handguns permits and keep the information secret has won easy passage in the House of Delegates. A bill that would shield records of concealed weapons permit holders from public inspection passed 81-17 Wednesday. In March 2007, many of the names on the list were made [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: Concealed carry in the United States, handgun permits, proposed exemptions | Leave a Comment »
Non-Virginian citizens have no right to request public records from Virginia agencies, the 4th Circuit ruled, upholding the constitutionality of the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Mark McBurney currently lives in Rhode Island, but he was divorced in Virginia and filed for child custody and child support in Virginia. After the Virginia Division of Child [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: court decision, state requirements, Virginia | Leave a Comment »
See how bad FOI ideas get started? Just mix one opportunistic politician, one troubled celebrity…and voila! Related articles Assemblywoman wants 911 recordings protected (abclocal.go.com) Should the Demi Moore 911 Call Be Public? (eonline.com)
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: California, proposed exemptions, Demi Moore, 9-1-1 | Leave a Comment »
I warned you last year that this was likely coming somewhere… In Virginia, the attorney general, skeptical of global warming, tried to use his subpoena powers to build a fraud case against a climatology professor. In Wisconsin, Republican Party officials sought the emails of a history professor, trying to demonstrate that he had misused his public account [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 3. Access law | Tagged: exemptions, Maryland, proposed exemptions, universities | Leave a Comment »
The Associated Press reporter Alan Zagier wrote a nice story looking at the tale of two very different searches at my university, one fairly open, one Vatican-like in its secrecy…and I lob an incendiary quote in for good measure! “The law school search really demonstrates the power of this institution to attract high-caliber candidates in [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law, secrecy | Tagged: secret searches, universities, University of Missouri, University presidential searches | Leave a Comment »
In case you missed it, The New York Times had a really interesting piece on FOIA the other day. The money graf: On Jan. 4, The New York Times received a final response from the Defense Department to a FOIA request made on June 1, 1997. The department sent it by Federal Express, Priority Overnight. [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law, 6. Overcoming denials | Tagged: Freedom of Information Act, June 1 1997, New York Times | Leave a Comment »
An Essex County judge today ordered Newark to turn over an itemized list of e-mails surrounding Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation to the city’s schools. The order by Superior Court Judge Rachel Davidson is the latest chapter in an ongoing legal battle between the city and the ACLU of New Jersey, which is [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 3. Access law, 6. Overcoming denials | Tagged: e-mails, Facebook, New Jersey | Leave a Comment »
Now here is a problem in need of a solution, and a public official with a fine idea! Did the new Olympia City Council begin the new year with an illegal council meeting? Unfortunately, members of the public will never know the answer to that question because there is no audio or video record of [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law, Open meetings laws | Tagged: executive sessions, open meetings, Washington State | Leave a Comment »
Thirteen people, 12 of them Lime Rock Fire District residents, have filed suit against the Lime Rock, Rhode Island, Fire District, Chief Frank Sylvester, and record keeper Lesley Heaton, alleging “hundreds” of knowing and willful violations of the Access to Public Records Act. Among the documents requested were Sylvester’s employment contracts, his e-mails, proof that [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law, 6. Overcoming denials | Tagged: fire departments, Rhode Island | Leave a Comment »
