Fox loses bailout-related Federal Reserve suit

A U.S. District Court judge ruled that the Federal Reserve Board had the right to withhold bailout-related documents from Fox News, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press reported. Judge Alvin Hellerstein said the records fell under the exemption that protects trade secrets and confidential information and that the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks are not government agencies (therefore, the board doesn't have to search the banks' records in response to Fox's request). Fox is likely to appeal and has another pending FOIA suit against the Treasury Department for other bailout records. Bloomberg News and The New York Times have simliar pending requests.

A federal judge ruled against Fox News Thursday in a key Freedom of Information Act case involving bailout-related documents held by the Federal Reserve Board.

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan ruled that the Federal Reserve Board in Washington had properly withheld more than 6,000 pages of documents from Fox because the records fell under the FOIA exemption protecting trade secrets and confidential information.

Fox sought information about the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending program, known as the discount window.

More here.

Legislature overturns ruling, keeps travel details secret

The Texas Legislature voted to overturn the ruling by the Third Court of Appeals that travel records for the governor's security detail should be released to newspapers, the Houston Chronicle reported. Sen. Jeff Wentworth said releasing the records could compromise security. Someone who wanted to harm a public official could find out how many bodyguards travel with Gov. Perry, where they stay and whether or not they travel in advance of the governor, he told the Chronicle. A costs summary for the security detail can, however, be disclosed.

The state House and Senate voted Sunday night to restrict access to travel vouchers for the security details that travel with the governor and other top elected officials, days after an appeals court ruled that the records should be turned over to Texas newspapers.

Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, said the provision would overturn an appeals court ruling last week that said the records should be disclosed to newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News, which sued to obtain the records.

The Senate had passed a bill to exempt the records from public disclosure, but Wentworth said the bill got “stuck in the House.” So lawmakers in both chambers voted, without opposition, to add the language to another public records bill.

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New Penn. law coming in handy

Media outlets and citizens in Pennsylvania are realizing that the state's new Right to Know Law is providing more records than the last version, The Morning Call reported. The previous law didn't assume that most records are public. The state open records office has 100 pending appeals to review. So far it has overturned three of six appeals.

Early evidence shows Pennsylvania's new Right to Know Law is doing what it's designed to, giving the public more access to records that show how governments are behaving and spending tax money.

Last week, the state open records office posted rulings on its first six appeals. In three cases, one in Quakertown, it ruled governments must provide information they initially refused to release.

Governments could have kept the information secret under the old Right to Know law in two of those cases, said Barry Fox, deputy director of open records.

More here.