ACLU Sues USAID for FOIA Violations over Abstinence-Only Programs

The ACLU has sued the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for failing to provide documents regarding its overseas religiously-influenced abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. In July and September 2009, the ACLU sent USAID requests for the programs funded through HIV/AIDs grants, including requests for proposals, contracts with USAID, curricula used by grantees, communications between USAID and the White House, and communications between USAID and its grantees about religious instruction in the abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.

A recent Inspector General's report says the programs unconstitutionally promote religiously infused materials and messages.

For more information, click here.

Florida Baseball Lawsuit Challenges Secret Dealing Behind Economic Development Deal

The lawsuit stalling a $31 million renovation of Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida, alleges that local government officials violated Florida's Sunshine Law by failing to conduct business in the open.

The lawsuit is a signature case regarding taxpayer-funded economic development deals that are negotiated in secret.

Read more about the lawsuit here.

Knight FOI Fund Awards its First Funds

With the newly created Knight FOI Fund, the National Freedom of Information Coalition is helping Florida citizens seek answers to important questions of FOI law, including the scope of public access to economic development documents in Sarasota and whether handwritten notes used by a government official during a public meeting are subject to disclosure.

The Knight FOI Fund provides up-front costs such as court costs, filing fees, depositions, and initial consulting fees for FOI cases that would otherwise go unfiled. The economic crisis and the evolution of the news media revealed declining levels in FOI advocacy, which the Knight FOI Fund seeks to rectify. Applications for grants come from NFOIC member coalitions and are vetted by the NFOIC's Litigation Committee.

For more information, click here.

Transparency or Financial Stability? The Arguments in Bloomberg v. Fed

The New York Times brings this fascinating account of the legal wranglings of Bloomberg News against the Fed for information pertaining to the Bailout. Described as a "principled grudge match," the feud over the financial news giant's FOIA requests has the Fed arguing that the information sought could cause stigmatization of certain banks, potentially bank runs, and could jeopardize the government's efforts to stabilize the economy, while Bloomberg argues it is seeking transparency in order to fulfill its watchdog role.

OMLN Partners with NFOIC

The Berkman Center's Online Media Legal Network (OMLN) is partnering with the National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) to assist with freedom of information lawsuits and to provide online journalists with FOI information and assistance.

The NFOIC received a $2 million, three-year grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to launch the Knight FOI Fund and support open government groups by funding up-front litigation costs, such as filing fees, depositions and initial consultation fees if attorneys are willing to take FOI cases that would otherwise go unfiled.

Read more about the partnership here.

West Virginia Supreme Court to Hear Important FOIA Case

The West Virginia Supreme Court has made two important decisions regarding FOIA cases.

In one, the Court declined to reconsider its decision not to force the release of former Justice Spike Maynard's email exchange with Massey Energy President Don Blankenship.

In the other, the Court will hear a full appeal of a FOIA case from Jefferson County wherein The Shepherdstown Observer is trying to force the release of persons who signed a zoning petition. The case considers a lower court ruling's that allows state and local agencies to withhold documents that were submitted to them.

Read more here and here.

FOIA Suits Filed to Gain Information About Federal Bailout Programs

Public interest investigation group Judicial Watch has filed two new FOIA lawsuits against the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve for their respective failures to provide information about the federal government's bailout programs.

The group filed a request with the Treasury Department on June 19, 2009 relating to a congressional briefing on the financial crisis held on September 18, 2008. The Treasury Department acknowledged receipt of the FOIA request on June 22, but has not yet produced any documents or indicated when documents will be provided.

Similarly, Judicial Watch made a FOIA request with the Federal Reserve on September 2, 2009, seeking access to visitor logs for meetings with Chairman Ben Bernanke and advisor Kevin Warsh from August 2007 to the present. The Federal Reserve acknowledged the request, but has not yet produced any records.

For more information, click here.

Most Complained-About Chicago Cops List Remains Closed

A list naming the 662 Chicago Police officers with 10 or more complaints filed against them will remain closed.

A journalist and 28 Chicago alderman sought access to the list compiled in connection with a 2004 suit against the Chicago Police Department.  Because that case has been settled, the federal appeals court ruled sua sponte that the journalist and alderman lacked standing to sue. 

The Fraternal Order of Police fought the release of names on the grounds that most complaints filed against police officers are eventually ruled unfounded.   The journalist and alderman counter that the court overlooked the public's interest in evaluating questionable police performance.

Get more here. 

American Small Business League to Recoup Legal Fees from the DOJ

Now that the Small Business Administration (SBA) has dropped its appeal of a California federal court's legal fees award, the American Small Business League will collect its attorneys' fee award from the Department of Justice.  

The case stemmed from the SBA's denial of the League's request for names of firms receiving small business contracts and the amounts awarded in 2005 and 2006.  The SBA claimed it didn't have records of the names and that the information was stored at the General Services Administration.  The Court found the SBA's argument "curious" and awarded the SBA to hand over the records and pay the League's attorneys fees in May 2008.  

Click here for details on what the League says the records reveal about the Bush administration. 

Update: U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Release of Referendum 71 Petitioners

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has temporarily blocked Washington state officials from releasing the Referendum 71 ballot petitions.  Referendum 71 is a ballot initiative asking Washington voters to approve or reject the state's law that grants domestic partners the same legal rights as married heterosexuals.   

Kennedy's order will remain in effect while he considers a request by a pro-marriage group that asked him to reverse the appellate court ruling, which had order the names released.  

Get more information here. 

Take Two - Texas Public Officials Will Try to Challenge Texan Open Meetings Act

At least 20 Texas public officials are expected to file a suit in federal court in the West Texas city of Pecos, asserting the state's Open Meetings Act violates their right to free speech.  

The open meetings act prevents a quorum of government officials from deliberating in secret and carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a similar lawsuit for lack of standing as the plaintiffs were no longer in office.  The  attorney for the anticipated suit says they've cured the standing problem because the 20 officials who will be plaintiffs are current public officials.

Get more info here. 

Follow Up: Ninth Circuit Orders Release of Referendum 71 Petitions in Washington

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision of a Thurston County Superior Court judge granting a temporary restraining order against Sam Reed concerning compliance with a public records request for copies of past initiative petitions, saying that order relied upon an incorrect legal standard.  That means the Washington's Referendum 71 petitions must be released pursuant to a public records request.   

Referendum 71 is an effort to overturn a Washington bill granting state registered domestic partners all rights, responsibilities and obligations granted or imposed by state law on married couples.

Click here for the Ninth Circuit's order.  

Release of Washington Referendum 71 Initiative Signatures Stayed Pending Appeal

Until the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hears the dispute over Referendum 71, an effort to overturn a bill granting state registered domestic partners all rights, responsibilities and obligations granted or imposed by state law on married couples, state election officials cannot release the signatures and addresses of the people who signed 11 statewide initiatives ruled Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks.

The Olympian reports:  "Hicks said there is a clear conflict between the state Supreme Court's likely interpretation of state public-records law and what U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle ruled last month in the dispute over releasing names and signatures of voters who signed Referendum 71."

Get the full report here. 

Search Warrants Withheld Despite Legal Authority to the Contrary

Officials in Logan County, Illinois are refusing to produce search warrant applications and supporting affidavits in connection with a murder investigation on the grounds that the investigation is on-going.  However, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan ruled two years ago that search warrant applications and accompanying affidavits are public records - without respect to a pending investigation -- after the warrants are served unless a judge orders the documents sealed.  

Get more information here.

Michigan Governmental Units Feud in Court over FOI Records Request

In a suit pitting the Michigan Department of Corrections against the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office, a judge ordered MDOC to pay a fine and attorneys' fees to the prosecutor's office.  

The suit stems from prosecutor Jessica Cooper's FOI request for a list of names of prisoners set to be paroled.  MDOC said it didn't have such a list, but Cooper sued and a judge agreed that MDOC did not honor the FOI request.  

A waste of taxpayer money?  "It's silly that this had to play out in court and waste everyone's time," Russ Marlan of MDOC told Michigan NPR.

Listen to the report here.

Provision in a Homeland Security Funding Bill Would Block Release of Torture Photos

The American Civil Liberties Union says a provision of the homeland security funding bill could block the release of photos of prisoners abused in U.S. custody abroad.  Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) proposed the provision, which would make such photos exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. 

The ACLU filed a FOI request for 2,000 photos of alleged abuse with the Department of Defense in 2003.  In 2005, a U.S. District Court judge in New York ordered the photos released, a decision that was upheld in 2008 by an appellate court.   The Obama administration has refused to comply with the order and asked the Supreme Court to hear the case.   

Click here for more information.  

West Virginia Supreme Court to Decide How FOI Applies to Judges

The West Virginia Supreme Court will decide the extent to which the state's freedom of information laws applies to judges.  

The case stems from The Associated Press's request for 13 emails between former W.V. Supreme Court Chief Justice Elliot "Spike" Maynard and top coal executive Don Blakenship of Massey Energy.  The Kanawha County Circuit Court ruled only five of the 13 emails need be released.  The Associated Press appealed, arguing all 13 of the emails should be released. 

The Supreme Court's administrator has also appealed, saying emails and correspondence involving the justices are exempt from the state's Freedom of Information Act.  

For more info, click here. 

Cheney's Role in the Valerie Plame Wilson Leak Exposed

Thanks to a FOIA lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ("CREW"), former Vice President Cheney's interview with the FBI in the Valerie Plame Wilson leak investigation will see the light of day.  

The DOJ had sought to withhold the records, arguing that future White House officials would be unwilling to cooperate with law enforcement inquiries if the records were released.  U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan allowed the documents to be redacted for privileged communications.  

Get more here. 

FOI Case Asks Whether Petition Signatures are Public Records

The Shepherdstown Observer filed an appeal with the West Virginia Supreme Court over its FOI request for the more than 2,000 names of those who signed a zoning referendum petition.  A Jefferson County Circuit Court judge ruled against the paper, keeping the citizens names private.  The West Virginia Supreme Court has not yet said whether it will hear the paper's appeal.

Get more information here.

Green Bay Must Yield Redacted Legal Invoices to Newspaper

A Wisconsin judge ordered the city of Green Bay to turn over redacted legal invoices to the Green Bay Press-Gazette in response to an open records request by the paper. The newspaper had requested legal invoices paid by the city for all outside legal counsel worked in 2007 and 2008.

The city had initially provided only a summary of the work preformed by the city by outside law firms and the amounts paid to them and objected to producing the invoices saying they contained attorney-client privileged information.

Brown County Circuit Court Judge J.D. McKay ordered the city to produce the bills by October 2 with the confidential or attorney-client privileged information redacted.

For more, click here.