Hmmmm….I am intrigued by this system, but also kind of tickled by some of the details in the story of its launch: Gov. Rick Scott launched a new open records program Thursday dubbed “Project Sunburst,” designed to give the public — and the media — access to the emails to and from the governor and 11 top staff within [...]
Filed under: 4. Finding records, 7. Electronic records, 8. Officials' perspectives | Tagged: e-mail, Florida, governors, Project Sunburst | Leave a Comment »
This kind of stuff makes my head literally ache: a story that allows a proponent of secrecy to make age-old arguments against open searches completely, utterly unchallenged by, well, fact… Florida’s open records laws will impact the quality of applicants seeking the Duval County Public Schools superintendent position, according to the president of a national [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law, 8. Officials' perspectives, Open meetings laws | Tagged: Florida, school districts, secret searches, superintendents | Leave a Comment »
It never, ever ceases to amaze me how lawmakers can embrace secrecy when farming out prisons to for-profit corporations that have such a well-documented history of abuse, corruption and mismanagement. Could they not just do a little reading about the many problems private prisons have caused in, say, Texas? I mean, heck, a little Google [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 3. Access law | Tagged: Florida, proposed exemptions, private contractors, private prisons | 1 Comment »
A bad trial with a disliked outcome produces a legislative overreach of titanic proportions: Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, on Thursday filed a bill that would call for a nine-month “cooling off” period after jurors are dismissed before they could consider accepting money for sharing details about a trial. The moves comes just days before Casey Anthony is [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: Florida, jurors, trials | 1 Comment »
From the Reporters Committee: Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill Thursday that exempts any photographs, video or audio recordings that depict or record the “killing of a person” from the mandatory disclosure requirements under the state’s public records laws. The bill, which Florida media organizations have fought against, would allow access to such recordings by certain [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 3. Access law | Tagged: exemptions, Florida, Legislation | Leave a Comment »
And in news of the truly inane…has anyone considered what happens when the death involves, say, a controversial police shooting??? A bill seeking to exempt depictions of deaths from Florida’s public records laws is making its way through the legislature, and freedom-of-information advocates are warning that the repercussions of such a broad measure could be [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 3. Access law | Tagged: Florida, Law Enforcement, proposed exemptions | Leave a Comment »
This is a toughie, and it’s where FOI stalwarts really have their work cut out for them in making the case for openness: Lawmakers are considering exempting photos, audio recordings and videos “that depict or record the killing of a person” from public records laws. The bill was spurred by last summer’s brutal murders of [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: Florida, proposed exemptions, proposed FOI legislation | Leave a Comment »
