Illinoisans would be allowed to make recordings of police officers in public under a bill that an Illinois House committee approved Wednesday. Existing state law allows the audiotaping of a person only if both parties to the conversation give their consent. Videotaping doesn’t require consent, but only if there is no audio with the video. [...]
Filed under: secrecy, Trickle-down fascism | Tagged: Illinois, police, public photography | Leave a Comment »
This strikes me as an odd time for truly horrific FOI legislation to hit the books, but… Changes to the state’s Freedom of Information Act allow government agencies to delay response times to individuals who are deemed to have made too many requests. The “recurrent requester” provision of the law signed by Gov. Pat Quinn [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: FOI legislation, Illinois, vexatious requesters | Leave a Comment »
The State Journal-Register has the story: People who frequently file Freedom of Information Act requests would have to wait longer for their requests to be fulfilled under a bill that passed the Illinois Senate on Monday. House Bill 1716 allows public bodies to take up to 21 days to respond to FOIA requests by people [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: FOI legislation, frequent requesters, Illinois | Leave a Comment »
From the AP: Illinois lawmakers voted overwhelming Friday to bar the public from knowing who holds a firearm owner identification card, a victory for gun owners who say they have a right to privacy over open-government advocates who say such records should not be secret. In a 42-1 vote, the Senate passed a measure overturning [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: Gun, Illinois, proposed exemptions | Leave a Comment »
After rumors and some public comments about toxicity in the county courthouse, KWQC News did the right thing — they FOIAd the reports. The Knox County (Ill.) board is trying to figure out what to do with the courthouse. Board members voted to renovate the building and hired a construction company; however, a few board members [...]
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind | Tagged: EPA, FOI at work, Illinois, toxic reports | Leave a Comment »
Hiding the identity of gun owners is always a political hot potato, as elected officials shrink from the ire of those who argue that there is a privacy right buried somewhere in the Second Amendment. I think there is a legitimate debate to be had here, but unfortunately, it seldom happens as few in position [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law, 8. Officials' perspectives | Tagged: Gun politics, Illinois, proposed exemptions, proposed FOI legislation, Second Amendment to the United States Constitution | Leave a Comment »
From the Chicago Tribune: A little more than a year after Illinois lawmakers rewrote open records laws promising a new era of transparency and accountability, frustrated mayors, school superintendents and police chiefs are back in Springfield, looking to undo many of the provisions. More than three dozen bills — from minor tweaks to major overhauls — were [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: Freedom of information legislation, Illinois | Leave a Comment »
A federal judge has concluded that a federal privacy act does not bar the University of Illinois from releasing information about hundreds of college applicants who appeared on an internal list of well-connected students, the basis for the Chicago Tribune’s 2009 “Clout Goes to College” investigation. U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall said the U. of I. [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Higher education, Illinois | Leave a Comment »
