Bloomberg Wins Appellate Victory in Suit for Bailout Details

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled in favor of Bloomberg in its suit against the Federal Reserve for access to bailout details, ruling the Fed must release records of the $2 trillion U.S. loan program.

U.S. Circuit Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs wrote that the FOIA "sets forth no basis for the exemption the Board asks us to read into it. If the Board believes such an exemption would better serve the national interest, it should ask Congress to amend the statute."

Read more about the decision here.

N.C. Judge Rules Police Dash-Cam Videos Not Public Records

North Carolina's Randolph County Superior Court Judge Brad Long ruled that police dash-cam videos are not a matter of public record. A lawyer representing the N.C. Press Association says the ruling highlights a gray area in the state's open records laws, where the law hasn't kept pace with technological developments.

The decision stems from the efforts of media groups to obtain two dash-cam videos that could have shed light on the August 2009 fatal shooting of 21-year old UNC fraternity president Courtland Smith by an Archdale police officer on Interstate 85 after Smith had called 911 asking for assistance. The 911 radio transmission and police traffic tapes were released. The 911 radio transmission contains Smith telling a dispatcher he was suicidal, driving drunk at speeds up to 100 mph and armed with a 9 mm pistol.

For more about case, click here.

Michigan Court of Appeals Allows Access to Voting Records

The Michigan Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to require the secretary of state's office to turn over individual voting records from the state's 2008 presidential primary under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

The court's ruling grants a political consultant access to presidential primary voters' names and which party's ballots they took.

For more information, click here.

Open Government Advocates Back Florida Suit

The NFOIC, the Florida First Amendment Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for Freedom of Information have backed a lawsuit by Preston Colby against the Board of County Commissioners in Highlands County, Florida with $3,000 in grant money to pay filing fees. The suit seeks hand-written notes taken during government meetings.

The matter went to trial in February 2010, but no decision has been rendered yet.

For more information, click here.

Texas City Sued for Violating Open Meetings Act

Citizens of Big Spring, Texas, and the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, the NFOIC are suing the city for violating the Texas Open Meetings Act for meeting on January 6th to discuss a petition for a tax rollback election without proper notice to the public.

The Concerned Citizens Council of Big Spring-Howard County and the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas hopes the lawsuit sends the message to all city governments that no one is above the law.

Read more here.

Connecticut Physicians Say FOI Undercuts the Peer Review Process

In a split decision, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that peer review privileges do not apply to public records requests filed by patients, stating the privilege only applies in the context of court actions.

The case stems from a former patient's request regarding a state hospital's decision not to renew a doctor's clinical privileges.  

Physicians say the ruling will have a chilling effect on the peer review process for state hospitals and could potentially have an adverse effect on private practices as well. 

In the decision, the majority court said the Legislature would need to fix any perceived flaws in the law.  

For more information, click this link from amednews.com.  

Metadata Not Public, AZ Judge Rules

A divided Arizona appellate court ruled Tuesday that hidden electronic data that indicates how and when documents are produced with word processing computer programs aren't themselves public records.

The three-judge Court of Appeals panel's majority opinion rejected a dissenting judge's argument that a Phoenix police officer was entitled to "metadata" for notes written by a supervisor of the officer.

Metadata is data embedded in documents to track authors, when something was saved and what changes were made. Metadata isn't visible when a document is printed on paper nor does it appear on screen in normal settings.

The officer, David Lake, said he wanted the notes' metadata to see if the supervisor had backdated the notes to prior to Lake being demoted.

More here.