NFOIC Summit: Technologies you should be using

Lisa Skube, principal of Creaturekind Communications; Jeff Lennan, chief operating officer of Winning Mark; and Karl Pearson-Cater with MinnPost.com spoke about the technologies that can be used to strengthen state FOI coalitions. Here are the notes from their session at the 2009 NFOIC Summit:

Blogging:

• The most fundamental technology to get higher visibility is syndication. RSS feeds will allow your content to be rebroadcast. Most free blogging tools already have these built in.
  
• Make your RSS feed link visible on your Web site.
• Free blogging tools include: WordPress, TypePad ($5 per month), LiveJournal, Blogger.
• The key is getting people to link to your content. In that way, those people become your sales force.
• Set up your feeds so that they are automatically posted on Facebook and Twitter.
• When creating blogs, re-package information. If it's a story with a lot of jargon, simplify it. Localize it. Mention the location in the headline or first sentence. People are searching for information relevant to their area. Tag your location as well.
• Headline writing is crucial. Sometimes Google News will pick up your headline, exclude the summary you wrote and use a picture from another site. Therefore, our headlines should be clear and straightforward. Avoid cute heads that refer to the first paragraph or the photo.
• Post consistently.
  

Other technologies:

• Sign up on Alltop.com. This is an aggregator of RSS feeds. Freedom of Information has a channel: http://freedom-of-information.alltop.com/
  
• Create a presence for your coalition on LinkedIn. It's a site that's easy to use but often overlooked.
• Choose one or two technologies to get your feet wet.
  
• Using these technologies no longer requires a Webmaster. However, try to get a Web services person on your board or heavily involved. That person will know about all the latest, free tools and can point you in the right direction.
• Get a Twitter account in your coalition's name.
• Drive content back to your main site or blog. You want to inform using different technologies, but you don't want to lose visibility that this is your organization.
• Sign up for Google analytics to find out what people are looking at online. Do more of what works.
  

NFOIC Summit: Coalition Sustainability

Barbara Peterson, president of the Florida First Amendment Foundation and NFOIC president; Hyde Post, president of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation; and Kathleen Richardson, executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Coalition discussed how to sustain state FOI coalitions at the 2009 NFOIC Summit. Here are the notes from their session.

Barbara Peterson
Lessons from the Florida First Amendment Foundation:

• The Florida First Amendment Foundation started in 1985. For first 10 years, it was housed in Florida Press Association. The foundation started publishing Government-In-The-Sunshine manual. The AG's office complies it. The coalition publishes it and distributees it. It was the main source of income.
  
• Peterson onvinced the board that the group should focus only on open-government issues. Nobody else in Florida did that. The group started a toll-free hotline for questions. Someone can call and get a quick question answered and a great quote. In the first year, 203 calls were placed. Now the line averages about 150 calls a month. Half of those come from citizens.
  
• Initially membership was mainly from newspapers. Now private investigators, broadcasters (not many), lawyers, anyone can be a member. Membership is as low as $25 and high as $5000.
  
• Because of the 501-c(3) status, there is a federal limitation on the amount of lobbying. So Peterson doesn’t lobby. She educates. An average of 100-150 exemptions bills are filed in Florida Legislature each year.
  
• The coalition is in the position of responding to all proposals for new exemptions. When a bill comes up on House floor, someone will say what is the position of Florida First Amendation Foundation on this bill. The foundation is sked to review 95 percent of bills. If the coalition doesn’t like it, chances are it won’t go anywhere.
  
• The coalition increased its profile dramatically by establishing a legislative alert list. The coalition can send out an e-mail alert about a bill to more than 300 newspaper editors and reporters in Florida. It makes the e-mails as outrageous as possible to get their attention.
  
• The coalition also conducts about 50 seminars and trainings a year. Those who attend automatically become a member for one year. In turn, the coalition gets their contact information, and many pay for the $25 membership the following year.
  
• The coalition has been talking to professional fundraisers after seeing a significant drop in every level of membership, even $25 members. One told Peterson that you should have three diverse, distinct sources of income.
• The foundation is about to launch a direct-mail fundraising campaign with advice from a professional fundraiser who volunteered her services. It would have cost $10,000 at minimum to hire her. A 2 percent return is expected. The second step will be getting everyone in the foundation to identify those who have been important in the history of the organization and send them a personal letter pleading for money ($1000-$5000 or more).
  

Tips:

• Raise your profile.
  
• Make sure reporters know you're a free resource.
  
• Track your calls. Know who's calling you and where from? That way if you got 15 calls from one newspaper, use that data to convince the newspaper to donate to your coalition. Those free calls were a lot cheaper than placing a call to the newspaper's attorney.
• Create a bullet list of talking points for board members when they're calling to ask others to donate.
• Develop champions. Identify those in the state who really support the cause. Honor them with an award. The Friend of the First Amendment Award has now become somewhat of a competition.
  
• Develop database of those who will continue to support organization.

Hyde Post
Lessons from the Georgia First Amendment Foundation:

• The Georgia First Amendment Foundation started in 1994. There was no consistent voice for FOI or access issues in Georgia. This issue was number 6 on the state press association's list. The Atlanta Journal Constitutaion was arguing a case before the state supreme court. The justice said journalists are always saying access to information is for the people but where are these other people? It's always just the Atlanta Journal Consititution fighting for documents. That's when the newspaper realized it would be helpful to have an organization of not just journalists.
  
• The first question: Who should be in the coalition? The group started with $5,000. To get diversity, it recruited some journalists (print and broadcast), journalism professors, law professors, media lawyers, librarians, intellectural freedom groups, like-minded public service groups (such as the ACLU, Common Cause) and JPF (just plain folks).
  
• A lot of the funding from newspapers. Obviously, that's not so much the case for those starting off today. Law firms are a good source of funding. Grants both through NFOIC and local organizations (such as state bar associations) are also something to look into. Don’t become dependent on any single source of funding.
  
• Pick a board of directors that includes a diversity of people with diverse skills. It's nice crucial to have a certain number of people who have money or can attract money.
  
• The coalition's most successful programs in Georgia have been workshops programs and booklets. It's an educational organization. Its most important constitutency is people just being elected to public office or newly appointed deputies, newly elected school board members, etc.
• The coalition produces a general citizen guide, one on school board records and is working on one on court access. Its board went to the attorney general and state sheriff association and asked them to coauthor the booklets. They didn't have to write it, just review it. However, the coaliton essentially had them approve the documents this way, which made it easier to get that material inserted into their training materials.

Tips:

• Get on regular list of newly elected magistrate judges. Show up during their training.
• Focus and consistency is key.
  
• Narrow the focus to what you can do well.
  
• FOI people who FOI stuff. Find out who's requesting records. That's your target for membership.
• Tell board members ahead of time that donating to the annual fund drive is a condition of being on the board.
  
• Aim to be nonpartisan.
  

Kathleen Richardson Lessons from Iowa Freedom of Information Coalition:

• The Iowa coalition began in 1976. Since early on, it had a strong alliance between print and broadcast journalists. One of its strengths is that it's had a broad base of support. This includes the state Associated Press bureau, state university journalism schools, Iowa Public Television, the League of Women Voters, Mediacom, the state high school press association, the state trial lawyers association, Iowa State Association of School Boards, attorneys interested in open records and meetings issues, etc.
• The coalition has focused on institution memberships, not individual membership. The group have stayed small. Its dues are a couple hundreds dollars for institution members. In current economic situation, that’s turned out to be a good thing. The coalition hasn’t lost any members.
  
• The group's mission is really educational. It publishing a handbook on open meetings and records laws that also includes FAQs about the laws. The publication is very popular and established the coalition as a neutral resource for information.
• The coalition is the statewide coordinator for cameras in courtrooms. It has done informal trainings. In the past couple years, it started partnering with Association of Counties, League of Cities, the Attorney General's office, etc. to conduct training around state.
  
• The key to success is that Richardson a professor at Drake Journalism School, which provided the coalition with office and Richardson's employment. This keeps the overhead low.
  
• The coalition has been successful in the legislature in terms of heading off some bad things. It's a voice of wisdom in hearings.

Tips:

• Establish credibility by trying to project a neutral, nonadversarial image.
• Look around state for successful models, such as state good government groups.
• Look around creatively for allies. Media is just another economic interest in many ways. Legislators are looking for voices of real people. Seek business groups that might be potential allies. Rely more heavily on the library or League of Women Voters, for example.

NFOIC Summit: Arizona FOI roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: David Cuillier of the Society of Professional Journalists provided a summary of Arizona's FOI news.

• Police agencies are redacting names in police reports. Some just leave in the first name. They're redacting addresses. They use the excuse that they're protecting suspected criminals from identity theft.
• The legislature proposed a policy whereby if someone requested records and didn't pick them up, that person would be banned for life for requesting records.
• There is also a proposal to limit access to online court records to Arizona citizens.
  

NFOIC Summit: Delaware FOI roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Coralie Pryde of Delaware Coalition for Open Government provided a summary of her state's FOI news.

• Delaware is deeply in need of a better FOI. There are access problems with the family courts and attorney general.
• The agenda for the Sustainable Energy Utility Oversight Board is usually sparse. One can never tell when the board will go into executive session.
• Delaware now has one foot in the door When the state FOI policy was developed, the legislature totally exempted itself. Sen. Karen Peterson helped get a stronger open government bill passed. It's now on the governor's desk, and we expect him to sign it. E-mails of legislators are off limits and some caucuses are off limits, but it's a real victory.
  

NFOIC Summit: Kentucky FOIA roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Terry Anderson of the University of Kentucky provided a summary of his state's FOI news.

• The state trying to revive the Kentucky Citizens for Open Government.
• The governor and attorney general are committed to open government. The chief justice just started a review of court rules on openness with the intention of opening them up more. Kentucky has a bigger problem with the legislature. The lawmakers don't seem committed.
• One legislator is determined to prevent the use of 911 calls in broadcasting.
• There is a legislative attempt to extend First Amendment rights to high school journalists.
• There also was a proposal to create a legislative investigative agency that would investigate other branches of government; however, its operations would have been exempted from public records.
  

NFOIC Summit: Missouri FOI roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Mike Sherry of the Missouri Sunshine Coalition provided a summary of his state's FOI news.

• The Missouri Sunshine Coalition is trying to figure out the best way to go about advocating and how to be more than an extension of the Missouri Press Association which already advocates for open records changes.
  

NFOIC Summit: Oklahoma FOI roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Joey Senat with Oklahoma State University School of Journalism and Broadcasting provided a summary of his state's FOI news.

• The attorney general issued a binding decision regarding private technologies. The public access to it depends on the nature of the document not the technology. If it has to do with public business, it's public. The Oklahoma Department of Libraries helped make that request. The state also has a statute related to records retention, which is what the library was interested in. There's still an need to talk to state agencies on what to do with the records they are now keeping.
• Enforcement of open-government laws falls to local district attorneys, which is a problem. The Court of Civil Appeals says said if you violate the open meetings law based on advice from your attorney, it's still a violation. You're supposed to know what the law is.
  

NFOIC Summit: Wisconsin FOIA roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Christa Westerberg of Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council provided a summary of her state's FOI news.

• Wisconsin has seen good legal developments because of court cases that clarifies what constitutes good notice and when quasi-government organizations are subject to open meetings and records laws.
• The state has no consistent retention policy on any records. The attorney general says agencies must have a policy, but it doesn't matter what's in it.
• Legislators are working on a shield law for reporters' notebooks and sources.
• We're trying to model Minnesota's policy for police records.
• The state could use a better fees policy. Fees are now issued at the discretion of the custodian so there's a lot of arbitrariness.
• The state legislature is allowed to hammer out the budget in some private committees. Two provisions in the proposed budget include: the expungement of certain felon records and the elimination of designating official state newspapers so that required government notices could just go online without being published in print publications.
  

NFOIC Summit: Florida FOIA roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Barbara Petersen of Florida First Amendment Foundation provided a summary of her state's FOI news.

• Florida is celebrating its 100th anniversary of its public records law and the 30th anniversary of allowing cameras in the courtroom.
• Peterson chaired Florida's Commission on Open Government Reform. The final report, "Reforming Florida's Open Government Laws in the 21st Century," was submitted, and she will now be assisting in drafting legislation on the report's recommendations.
  

NFOIC Summit: Minnesota FOIA roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Helen Burke of the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information provided a summary of her state's FOI news.

• The governor's approach toward retention of e-mails is that they be kept up to 90 days, preferably 30 days.
• Minnesota took a step in the right direction with the Transparency and Accountability Project which includes vendor reports.
• Minnesota doesn't allow cameras in the courtroom, but the Supreme Court has said there can be a commission set up to explore this issue. It's moving at a glacial pace but in a good direction.
• The Uptake streamed the hearings regarding the Franken/Coleman senatorial election.
• Public access suffered a setback when the governor signed into law a bill that defines the Department of Natural Resources database as not a public database.
  

NFOIC Summit: Public access values

Richard J. H. Varn, director of the Coalition for Sensible Public Records Access and the chief information officer for the City of San Antonio, spoke on the threats to and values of public access. Here's part two of the notes on his NFOIC 2009 Summit Session:

Values of public access:

• Identify verification and fraud prevention: Being able to verify facts such as birth date, address, etc. ensures that you don't wrongly identify someone. Secondary verifications rely on public records to prevent someone from representing themselves as you.
• Risk management and background screening.
• Public policy enforcement (Red Flag Rules): Before you're granted a bank account, the bank needs to verify that you are who you say you are. They largely draw from public records to find out multiple uses of the same address, multiple uses of a social security number and misuse of multiple birth records. Without access, banks are limited in preventing money laundering and theft.
• Life events: Owing a home, renting an apartment, buying a car, getting a job, dating, getting married, day care and senior care depend on access to records. You want to make sure the person watching your children or parents don't have issues, right?
• Person and business locations: Facebook doesn't always work in locating people.
• Workplace safety and vulnerable populations: Public records are used to perform background and credit checks on employees.
• Administration of justice: You can't find out facts without proper access to public records.
• Helping residents exercise their right to know.
• Targeted communications and marketing.
• Economic growth and democratization of opportunity: Small businesses rely on public records, which provide a cheap way to obtain market data, an analysis of the community or economy and list of potential customers.
• Market efficiency: Public records are used to forecast economic conditions and inventory systems.
• Public safety and law enforcement: Public records are investigative tools used to find suspects and witnesses.
• Customer service: A chemical company contains you because they know you have a pool. They saw it on Google Maps.
• Product safety and recalls: Public access helps companies find people who own things now considered unsafe.
• Due diligence and other legal duties.

NFOIC Summit: Public access threats

Richard J. H. Varn, director of the Coalition for Sensible Public Records Access and the chief information officer for the City of San Antonio, spoke on the threats to and values of public access. Here's part one of notes on his 2009 NFOIC Summit session:

Threats to public access:

• Identity theft and security: The problem with identity theft is not with public records. It would flourish even if all access was cut off. A social security number is only worth about 10 cents on the black market. Concerns over identity theft, however, had led to more restrictions to public access than any other issue in the past couple decades. When public identifiers are not made public, it is nearly impossible to distinguish one person from another. It leads to more false positives and false negatives.
• Implementing public policies by redacting the truth: Because people with criminal records have difficulty finding jobs, apartments, etc., there has been a trend to expunge convictions from public records. However, this doesn't hide the fact that someone has been convicted. It's still in the police blotter archives, and a fellow co-worker could definitely reveal a prior conviction that another employee tried to hide. Redaction doesn't solve the problem. What would solve it is an employability of felons act. Facts can still be acted on. These people need rights.
  
• Increased fees beyond marginal cost and self-funding portal: Florida, for example, passed a cost increase to help solve its budget problems.
• Security concerns lead to overclassification.
  
• Coalition failures: Exemptions for media aren't enough. Citizens should have rights to the same information, and coalitions should champion for them. These citizens who request records are, after all, sometimes valuable sources.
• Private technology, public business: Using private e-mail accounts to conduct public business is ever increasing.
• New technology, same old issues: Just because it's Twitter or the latest social networking fad doesn't mean anyone is excused from providing access and charging only marginal costs.
• Enforcement failures: Obviously, many state coalitions are struggling to add teeth to their state's FOI laws.

Dallas City Hall to purge e-mails after 90 days

Dallas City Hall's new policy to retain electronic communication for only 90 days is disappointing to open-records advocates who realize that it's sometimes a year or more before an issue arises, The Dallas Morning News reported. At that point, there will be no records. City officials say the policy is to help save storage space.

Dallas City Hall soon will begin purging from its computer servers many e-mails 90 days or older - a policy city officials say will save precious storage space but one some open-government advocates fear will hamper transparency.

For years, Dallas has lacked a clear document retention policy governing electronic communications.

The new 90-day e-mail policy will also help the city methodically and responsibly cull what's become a massive amount of information stored on its central computer servers, City Secretary Deborah Watkins said.

More here.

Del. Senate supports 'unconstitutional' open-government bill

The Delaware Senate approved a bill that would stop budget writing committees from having closed-door meetings but would keep communications by legislators private, the AP reported. Senate attorney Jeff Clark warned that the bill was unconstitutional because members of one legislative chamber cannot bind the other through statute and a current legislature can't pass a law that controls future sessions of the General Assembly.

The state Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a House bill aimed at making the legislature more transparent to the public despite being told by a staff attorney that the bill is unconstitutional.

Two members of the Democratic majority openly admitted they were voting for the bill because of how they might be perceived by the public.

“For the sake of perception, we can probably do this,” said Sen. Harris McDowell III, D-Wilmington, after reminding colleagues of their attorney’s opinion.

More here.

D.C. Open Government Coalition plans its first meeting

From Melissa Davenport, executive director of D.C. Open Government Coalition:

Please save the date for the first organizational meeting of the D.C. Open Government Coalition:

When: Tuesday, June 23rd, at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Ropes & Gray offices (located at Metro Center, 700 12th St. NW, Suite 900)

The Coalition will be working to increase transparency and access to government information in the District of Columbia. We welcome anyone interested in helping to set the Coalition's initial agenda and look forward to your participation in refining our focus and thinking about how we can best have an impact in this area. We will also establish the Coalition's new Board of Directors.
In addition, at this meeting the Coalition will release its first publication, a citizens' guide to the D.C. Freedom of Information Act.

Please join us! And don't hesitate to be in touch with any questions or suggestions.

SPJ executive director dies after battle with cancer

Terry Harper, the seven-year executive director of the Society of Professional Journalists, died Tuesday at his home in Indianapolis after a long battle with brain cancer, according to SPJ President Dave Aeikens. He was 45.

Aeikens, who informed SPJ board members in an e-mail this afternoon of Harper's death, said Harper had just recently stepped down from his post. SPJ officials had posted a notice just this morning advising members of Harper giving up his day-to-day responsibilities due to his illness.

Terry was a friend, a colleague and a hell of a human being. NFOIC mourns his passing and wishes the world to know what a huge role he played in supporting the work of the NFOIC. He is missed, and the world is a smaller place without him.

Charles

More here.

Newspaper sues to learn if governor's permit was suspended

The Nevada Supreme Court heard argument on whether information related to Gov. Jim Gibbons' concealed gun permit should be released to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the Las Vegas Sun reported. Gibbons said he doesn't carry a concealed gun but has a permit. He surrendered his license in January of last year after a delay in getting the required training to carry one of his guns. He says no disciplinary action was taken, but a reporter heard that his weapon permit might have been suspended or revoked.

Gov. Jim Gibbons said today he never carries a concealed gun, even though he has a permit to do so.

And he said he once surrendered his weapons permit but he was never disciplined.

The Nevada Supreme Court has heard arguments on whether the Reno Gazette-Journal was entitled to information that may show the weapons permit of Gibbons was revoked or suspended. A district court has ruled the newspaper is not entitled to that information.

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.

More here.

County sued for possibly overcharging for records

California Public Records Research Inc. filed suit against Monterey County Clerk's Office after the office charged $2 per page for records rather than actual copying costs, estimated at 10 cents per page, The Monterey County Herald reported. "County Counsel Charles McKee and Clerk-Recorder Steve Vagnini, who is named in the suit, said when it comes to copying public documents, records in the clerk's and assessor's offices fall under different statutes than the Public Records Act." Similar suits have been filed in all 58 California counties.

If you've been paying $2 per page for records at the Monterey County Clerk's Office, you're due a refund, according to Southern California attorneys who are suing the county for allegedly violating the state Public Records Act.

Attorneys for California Public Records Research Inc. say state law allows local agencies to charge only the actual costs of copying public records, including real estate records maintained by county clerks.

In their class action lawsuit, filed Thursday in Monterey County Superior Court, Clifton Hodges and Donald Ricketts maintain those costs amount to no more than 10 cents per page.

More here.

Columbus Dispatch finds different interpretations of FERPA

Inside Higher Ed highlighted The Columbus Dispatch's investigation that uncovered widely different interpretations of FERPA by athletics programs. The newspaper sent public records requests for athletic-related documents to all 119 in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Several programs used the vague law to deny or redact parts of records that were unrelated to students' academic records. Check to see how open your favorite athletic program was here.

A six-month investigation by The Columbus Dispatch has found that colleges and universities use "wildly different legal interpretations" of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act to deny access to information about athletics programs. The newspaper sent colleges with big-time athletics programs similar requests for information and found wide variation in what institutions provided, with FERPA commonly cited to avoid providing information commonly released by other institutions. Even within the same state, the newspaper found inconsistent interpretations. The newspaper also interviewed James Buckley, the one-time U.S. senator who wrote the law, and found that he was "stunned" at the way athletics programs are citing the measure to keep information secret.

More here.

Telegraph scoop sells papers

The Daily Telegraph sold 900,000 additional copies in the first two weeks it ran serialized reports of Parliament members' expense records, The New York Times reported. Unconfirmed reports indicate that The Telegraph paid $145,000 for the reports.

British newspapers sometimes give away CDs or DVDs in the hope that readers enticed by free copies of “Batman 26” might cast a passing glance at the headlines, too.

One newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, has reversed that approach, to spectacular effect. Instead of giving away a disk, it acquired one (or more) of them containing the expense records of members of Parliament.

As The Telegraph splashes tales of taxpayer-financed duck islands and moat-cleaning across its front pages, there is talk of a political revolution along the Thames. Some of the conventional wisdom of the news business has gone belly up, too.

More here.

Records reveal special consideration given to University of Ill. applicants

FOI at Work!
The Chicago Tribune reviewed about 1800 pages of documents (obtained via FOIA), which revealed that about 800 undergraduate students since 2005 have received special admission consideration at the University of Illinois. The newspaper terms it the "clout list." Last school year about 77 percent of those on this list were admitted when only 69 percent of all applicants were accepted. Documents show "politically appointed trustees and lawmakers routinely behave as armchair admissions officers advocating on behalf of relatives and neighbors."

At a time when it's more competitive than ever to get into the University of Illinois, some students with subpar academic records are being admitted after interference from state lawmakers and university trustees, a Tribune investigation has revealed.

Hundreds of applicants received special consideration in the last five years, according to documents obtained by the Tribune under the state's Freedom of Information Act. The records chronicle a shadow admissions system in which some students won spots at the state's most prestigious public university over the protests of admissions officers, while others had their rejections reversed during an unadvertised appeal process.

In one case, a relative of Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the now-convicted influence peddler for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, got admitted after U. of I. President B. Joseph White wrote an e-mail stating that the governor "has expressed his support, and would like to see admitted" Rezko's relative and another applicant.

More here.

Appeals court rules in favor of disclosing travel records

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled in favor of Hearst Newspapers and Cox Newspapers, which sued to get the travel records of Gov. Rick Perry's security detail, the AP reported. The Texas Department of Public Safety can now appeal to the Texas Supreme Court.

An appeals court has rejected attempts to keep the travel records of Gov. Rick Perry's security detail secret.

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled Friday the Texas Department of Public Safety has failed to show that releasing the records would be an invasion of privacy and create an imminent threat of physical danger.

Hearst Newspapers and Cox Newspapers sued to get the records. DPS can appeal Friday's ruling to the Texas Supreme Court.

More here.

Calif. Senate approves cost-limiting bill

The California Senate unanimously approved a bill to prevent judges from ordering plaintiffs to pay governments' legal costs in open records and meetings lawsuits, the AP reported. Newspaper publishers supported the effort.

The cost of fighting for access to public records and meetings would be limited under a bill approved by the Senate.

Sen. Leland Yee's bill would bar judges from ordering plaintiffs to pay governments' legal costs in open records and meetings lawsuits. Yee, a Democrat from San Francisco, says high costs have "a chilling effect" on such public interest lawsuits.

For instance, the nonprofit Center for Public Forum Rights near Sacramento paid $80,000 in government attorneys' costs last year after it sued Orange Unified School District for allegedly altering video of a public meeting.

More here.

Obama orders review of classification system

President Barack Obama ordered national security adviser James L. Jones to suggest revisions to the existing presidential order on national security classification, the AP reported. Jones is also tasked with deciding whether a National Declassification Center should be created to address the backlog of 51 million pages scheduled for declassification. Obama also called for a government-wide task force to standardized the stamps used on controlled but unclassified documents. There are currently 107 different stamps and 130 different procedures for appying them.

Expanding his drive to open government, President Barack Obama is ordering two studies of whether the government is classifying too much information and using too many different ways to keep it from public view.

He wants the answers in just 90 days, and it's no secret which way he's leaning.
In a memo Wednesday, Obama ordered national security adviser James L. Jones to consult relevant agencies and recommend revisions in the existing presidential order on national security classification that lays out the rules under which agencies can stamp documents confidential, secret or top secret.

More here.

Ill. House unanimously approves FOI overhaul

The Illinois House voted 116-0 in favor of a bill to overhaul the state's FOI and Open Meetings acts, the AP reported. The bill, which gives a public access counselor in the attorney general's office power to mediate disputes and making binding decisions among other improvements, now heads to the Senate.

Taxpayers trying to wade through the sometimes-murky waters of government bureaucracy would find a clearer stream under legislation the Illinois House approved Wednesday.

Lawmakers voted 116-0 to overhaul the state's Freedom of Information and Open Meetings acts.

The bill would require government bodies to respond to requests for documents more quickly, create a position in the attorney general's office responsible for ruling on and mediating disputes and impose civil penalties for bureaucrats who purposefully ignore a request or disregard the law.

More here.

City slowly releases payroll records

The San Jose Mercury News filed a public records request for the 2008 payroll records for all city workers in order to create public employee compensation databases. All jurisdictions provided the full records except for Watsonville, which is releasing information "as it becomes available." Watsonville initially just released records on the highest paid police officers and firefighters. It hurried to released the names and salaries of other employees who made more than $100,000 because some thought police and firefighters were being targeted. The city attorney says Watsonville is only legally bound to release records for employees with salaries of $100,000 or more.

City officials have released the names and salaries of 27 employees who made more than $100,000 in 2008.

The release came late Friday, a day after the Sentinel published the names of police and firefighters who earned more than $100,000 in 2008, a story that sparked controversy in City Hall corridors and in the community.

On April 27, the Sentinel made a public records request for the 2008 pay records for all city workers as part of a countywide project to create public employee compensation databases. The city and county of Santa Cruz databases are available on the Sentinel's Web site, santacruzsentinel.com.

More here.

Dissecting Sotomayor's media law record

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press posted an analysis of how Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, handled three cases related to media law. In U.S. v. Quattrone, she wrote the majority opinion that struck down a gag order on the press related to the retrial of a former Credit Suisse First Boston executive. In Aequitron Medical Inc. v. CBS, she wrote the opinion that allowed the infant monitor manufacturer to sue CBS News for various business claims but dismissed the defamation and trade libel claims based on procedural grounds. Although Sotomayor has favored withholding records rather than releasing them under federal FOIA, she ordered the release of the suicide note of former deputy White House counsel Vince Foster.

We're compiling a full report on the record of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, in the areas of First Amendment and media law, and expect to post our findings here tomorrow. In the meantime, though, Sotomayor's input on three cases seemed particularly noteworthy:

In high-stakes prosecution, Sotomayor rejected prior restraints on the press.

A 2005 opinion regarding the high-profile prosecution of a bank executive suggests that Sotomayor, in her time as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan (2nd. Cir), understood well the value of a transparent judiciary and a free press.

More here.

UA professor, FOI advocate honored

Congratulations to David Cuillier, assistant professor at The University of Arizona School of Journalism and chairman of the national Freedom of Information committee for SPJ. Cuillier won AEJMC's "Promising Professor" award and was recently named a research fellow for 2009-2010 by the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the UA.

An assistant professor in The University of Arizona School of Journalism took first place in the national "Promising Professor" faculty competition. The award is given by the Mass Communication Society division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, known as AEJMC.

David Cuillier, who teaches courses on public affairs reporting and computer-assisted reporting, will be honored as one of the nation's best and brightest teachers at AEJMC's national conference Aug. 5-8 in Boston. The competition was open to faculty who have taught no more than five years full-time. Cuillier also won the graduate student category of the competition in 2004 while a doctoral student at Washington State University.

At the conference, Cuillier will give a presentation about his teaching and present two research papers: one based on a study that shows skepticism is closely tied to support for freedom of information, and the other about teaching methods in journalism education. He also was invited to speak on a panel about press access to law enforcement information.

More here.

Newspaper uncovers water sample results via FOIA

FOI at Work!
The Exponent Telegram received copies of the weekly reports on water samples collected by the the city of Clarksburg, W. Va., via FOIA. Although the state doesn't have a standard for the level of total dissolved solids that are allowed in public waterways, the average level being discharged into the West Fork River is 527 parts per million. Pennsylvania has a limit of 500 parts per million. Levels in Clarksburg have reached as high as 852 parts per million.

Although West Virginia has not set a standard for the levels of total dissolved solids allowed in public waterways, the average levels being discharged at Clarksburg’s wastewater plant are higher than those allowed in Pennsylvania, records show.

Plant Superintendent Bill Goodwin said the average level of total dissolved solids being discharged into the West Fork River is 527 parts per million. Pennsylvania allows no more than 500 parts per million.

He said the amount by which Clarksburg exceeds Pennsylvania’s standard is quite small.

More here.

Check out submitted open-government ideas

The National Academy of Public Administration, which hosted the White House's online brainstorming session, collected nearly 900 submissions and 33,000 votes on ideas for how government can be more accessible and transparent.

Check out the ideas here.

Judge urges city to settle rather than endure a costly trial

A trial could be expensive and risky for both the city of Yakima and Tim Schoenrock, Yakima County Superior Court Judge Blaine Gibson wrote in an opinion, the Yakima Herald-Republic reported. Schoenrock alleges that council members violated open meetings law by arranging votes for a budgeting policy outside a public meeting. His case rests on e-mail records. The judge could not determine ahead of time whether Schoenrock would be eligible for a reimbursement of attorneys fees should the case go to trial.

Unless the city of Yakima and a local attorney settle their dispute over an alleged violation of the state open-meetings law, they should prepare for a costly trial, a judge has ruled.

In an opinion issued Tuesday, Yakima County Superior Court Judge Blaine Gibson said he could not determine whether Tim Schoenrock deserves attorney fees for his work on the case without a closer look at whether members of the Yakima City Council violated the Open Public Meeting Act when they lined up support for a new budgeting policy last month.

A trial, Gibson wrote, would be risky and expensive for both sides. He urged the city and Schoenrock to settle the matter out of court.

More here.

Senate creates process to ban release of detainee photos

The Senate passed two FOIA-related amendments to the appropriation bill, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press reported. The first "creates a process for the Secretary of Defense to certify to the president that the release of photos and videos taken between Sept. 11, 2001, and Jan. 22, 2009, of people captured by U.S. forces outside the United States would endanger lives." This would protect the photos from being released for at least three years. The second amendment requires new laws related to exemptions to specifically reference the FOIA.

The ACLU’s effort to get photos documenting the treatment of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan was halted by the Senate on Thursday night, in an amendment to the appropriations bill.

The Senate also agreed to require new laws that exempt information from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act to specifically reference the FOIA, making them easier for requesters to spot.

The two changes were part of the supplemental appropriations bill, which the House already passed. The House and Senate will now reconcile the two versions of the bill.

More here.

Records indicate other UK athletes tested positive for banned substances

FOI at Work!
The Herald-Leader obtained records under the Open Records Act that show the number of UK athletes who have tested positive for banned substances in the past few years. Jeremy Jarmon has been the "most prominent," but another UK athlete was dismissed in the latter part of 2008 and another was penalized for testing positive for marijuana (first offense). The school did not release the names or the teams of those who tested positive in the school's internal testing. (Jarmon tested positive in an NCAA random test). At UK, 13 athletes during the 2006-07 year and 10 during the 2005-06 year tested positive for marijuana.

Jeremy Jarmon was not the first University of Kentucky athlete whose career was cut short because of a positive test for a banned substance. But he's certainly one of the most prominent.

One UK athlete was dismissed from a team between July and December of 2008 after a positive test for marijuana. A second athlete who tested positive for marijuana was simply penalized because it was a first offense, according to records of internal testing at UK Athletics that the Herald-Leader obtained under the Open Records Act.

The records UK provided were from the school's internal testing, not from the NCAA. Jarmon came up positive in a random test conducted by the NCAA. The substance was not disclosed.

More here.

Federal government Web sites promise more transparency

The White House unveiled two Web initiatives to support President Obama's call for a more transparent government, the Washington Post reported. Data.gov will serve as a depository of raw data from various agencies. WhiteHouse.gov will provide an opportunity for citizens to suggest and discuss new open-government policies. The White House Web site will also feature "Innovation Gallery," which will serve as a showcase of government agencies' efforts to be more transparent and include "a timeline to display open-government milestones as they are reached."

On his first full day in office, President Obama issued his first executive order directing federal officials to come up with ideas for making government information more visible and accessible to the public within 120 days.

Today -- the 120th day since the edict -- the White House is rolling out a host of online initiatives intended to foster more dialogue and collaboration between citizens and bureaucrats.

The launch includes the debut of a site called Data.gov, where agencies will post data that can be culled by Web developers to make new Web and cellphone applications. Also starting today, the WhiteHouse.gov homepage will become a repository for citizen suggestions and discussion regarding new open-government policies.

More here.

Open-government advocates oppose Illinois FOIA rewrite bill

The current Illinois FOIA is weak but better than the revised bill, open-government advocates told The State-Journal Register. They initially supported revisions drawn up by Attorney General Lisa Madigan, but changes last week, supposedly made by staff for the House speaker and Senate president, were met with opposition. Included in the changes: "a blanket prohibition on releasing home addresses and license plate numbers" and "allowing public officials to satisfy FOIA requests with paper records, and charging for each page, rather than providing information in electronic format."

Open-government advocates say Illinois would be better off with an existing but flawed Freedom of Information Act than with a revised law released by House Democrats late Tuesday, just one minute before midnight and less than two weeks before the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn.

Rather than making records more accessible, officials with the Illinois Press Association say the provisions put forth by legislative leaders would make it easier for government officials to delay and ultimately keep some records secret.

“This would just open up a whole new range of litigation,” said Beth Bennett, IPA director of government relations.

More here.

La. governor backs loosely drawn bill

Opponents of the open records bill recently approved by the Louisiana Senate say the measure could cause more harm than good, the AP reported. Gov. Bobby Jindal approves of the bill, which is not as strong as previous versions and protects records relating to the "deliberative process" of the governor and his "internal staff."

Louisiana's Senate has approved legislation aimed at making more of the governor's records public but an opponent says the bill contains a loophole keeping many documents secret.

Gov. Bobby Jindal backed the bill, approved Wednesday, as an alternative to another measure that would have made the governor's office subject to the same open records law as other state agencies.

The bill, which goes next to the House, keeps under wraps records relating to the "deliberative process" of the governor and his "internal staff."

More here.

Public invited to participate in drafting Open Government Directive

OMB Watch reported last week that the Office of Science and Technology Policy was preparing to invite the public to make recommendations for the Open Government Directive that President Obama assigned on his first day in office to the Chief Technology Officer. The public engagement process will have three phases, according to the Open Government Blog on the White House Web site. An initial brainstorming online session will allow the public to vote on suggested ideas or add their own. On June 3, the best ideas "will be fleshed out on a weblog in a discussion phase." On June 15, phase three will use a public wiki to "draft recommendations in collaborative fashion."

On January 21, 2009, his first full day in office, the President issued a Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government and called for recommendations for making the Federal government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative.

As Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President says in the video below, we are proud "to announce an important next step in this historic call to action – one that will help us achieve a new foundation for our government – a foundation built on the values of transparency, accountability and responsibility."

Read the initial OMB Watch blog here.
Access the White House Open Government blog here.
Participate in the brainstorming session here.

Conference participants develop plan of action for open governments

The Carter Center in conjunction with other organizations held a conference in Peru where more than 115 representatives from 18 countries discussed obstacles and potential solutions to the right of access to public information in the Americas. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter spoke on the final conference day and reminded participants that "access to information can change the landscape of society."

Participants in a conference on the right of access to information released today their findings and plan of action to advance the right in the Americas.

The Americas Regional Plan of Action provides a blueprint for the regional and international community, states, and non-state actors to establish, develop, and nurture the right of access to information in the Americas and calls on them to commit to the plan in furtherance of our common objective. The regional document serves as an annex to last year's global Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action.

The conference was held April 28-30, 2009, in Lima, Peru, and was organized by The Carter Center in collaboration with the Organization of American States, the Andean Jurists Commission, and the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. More than 115 representatives from government, civil society, media, private sector, regional intergovernmental organizations, international and regional financial institutions, and donors from 18 countries in the region came together to consider the main obstacles and potential solutions to advance the right of access to information in the Americas.

More here.

To read the full Americas Regional Findings and Plan of Action and the Atlanta Declaration for the Advancement of the Right of Access to Information, please go here.

Reporter attributes Wash. roots to how she rocked Parliament

Nice bio from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Heather Brooke, who requested expense-accounts information on Parliament members five years ago. Her request set the stage for Tuesday's resignation of the speaker of the House of Commons and possibly criminal prosecutions of parliamentarians who abused their expense accounts.

If the British tabloids knew about the sex-advice column Heather Brooke wrote for the University of Washington Daily nearly two decades ago they might run with it as a salacious news item.

Something like "sex writer rocks Parliament."

But that information hasn't reached them, it seems, and Brooke has proven to an entire nation she is a journalist of another ilk. In doing so, the former Seattleite has shaken up the British parliamentary leadership and perhaps changed forever the relationship between the British press and the House of Commons.

More here.

Okla. judge releases 911 tape

The recording of a 911 call from a Pryor, Okla., woman who drowned after her car was swept into the floodwaters was released, Tulsa World reported. An attorney representing the victim's family argued that the release served no public purpose and would cause the family "severe and irreparable injury and harm" in the form of "emotional trauma."

A Mayes County judge on Monday approved the release of a 911 recording from a Pryor woman who died this month after her car was swept away in floodwaters.

In issuing his order, District Judge Terry McBride blocked a permanent injunction sought by William Kendrick against 911 service operator Mayes Emergency Services Trust, which contacted the Kendrick family after receiving media requests for the recording. William Kendrick's daughter, Kimberlyn Rae Kendrick, pleaded for help in a 911 call to the emergency service before she drowned May 2.

On Monday, McBride told the court that Kimberlyn's "final words seem private. However, there is no exception in the Oklahoma (Open) Records Act that I could find to deny access to those public records."

More here.

School board reaches settlement in newspaper suit

The Steamboat Springs School Board in Colorado agreed to pay $50,000 of The Steamboat Pilot & Today's attorney fees after a lawsuit stemming from the board's violation of open meetings laws. The board will also have to release minutes from that executive session in which its “notice was deficient in failing to state that the executive session would concern the release of the survey results. In addition, the notice was deficient in not identifying that the ‘personnel matter’ was specifically the performance of the superintendent.”

The Steamboat Springs School Board formally accepted a lawsuit settlement offer from the Pilot & Today on Monday.

The settlement was tentatively approved by board members last month on the heels of a March ruling by the Colorado Court of Appeals that the previous School Board violated the state’s Open Meetings Law by not properly announcing the intention of its executive session at a Jan. 8, 2007, meeting. As a result of the ruling and settlement offer, the district will pay $50,000 of the newspaper’s attorney fees and release the transcripts from the illegal meeting.

The motion to accept the settlement offer was approved 4-1 on Monday, with a couple of board members expressing satisfaction that the lawsuit is now behind them. Board member John DeVincentis was the only dissenting vote, but he wasn’t the only one displeased with the outcome.

More here.

New twist in Palin hacker case

Defense lawyer Wade Davies has asked a federal judge to dismiss the four federal charges pinned on David Kernell , the Tennessee college student who allegedly hacked into Gov. Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account, Wired reported. Davis argues that in Tennessee, an act must expose something inherently private and place the victim in a false light for it to be considered an invasion of privacy. This wasn't the case, he says, because "an Alaska court has issued an order requiring Ms. Palin to preserve the correspondence in her private e-mail accounts on the grounds that the e-mails are public records."

A surprise legal maneuver by the defense in the Sarah Palin hacking case could undermine key charges carrying the stiffest potential penalties.

A lawyer for the Tennessee college student charged with hacking into the Alaska governor’s Yahoo e-mail account last year says his client couldn’t have violated Palin’s privacy because a judge had already declared her e-mails a matter of public record.

“He’s not suggesting that e-mail can’t be private,” says Mark Rasch, a former Justice Department cybercrime prosecutor. “He’s saying this particular e-mail was not private or personal because of who she is and because it wasn’t intimate communication.”

More here.

EPA puts status of FOIA requests online

From the Society of Environmental Journalists:

You may still be waiting for EPA to fulfill your FOIA request, but you can at least check easily on the status of your request -- thanks to a new online status report.

The Web page, browsable here, may state the obvious, but it could also save you time on the phone. You have to know your Request Identification Number, since that's how the requests are listed.

The report lists the date the request was received, the date a response is due, and the status (pending, closed, etc.)

It does not identify the requester or the information requested -- so you can not browse the status of other people's requests.

Charles Davis' take on White House FOIA decision

From Jurist:

Charles N. Davis [Executive Director, National Freedom of Information Coalition]: "The May 19 federal appellate court decision finding that the White House's Office of Administration is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act is an act of legal finery in bad need of a legislative fix.

Indeed, the court's decision is but the latest example of how crabbed judicial interpretation of the Act has restricted its ambit even as the digital communications of the era bedevil a law created in the days of manila folders and Smith-Corona typewriters.

In upholding a ruling last year by a federal judge, the appeals court found that the White House does not have to make public internal documents examining the potential disappearance of emails during the Bush administration.

More here.

Penn. newspaper denied credit-card receipts

From The News-Item:

Northumberland County President Judge Robert B. Sacavage has sought advice from the state on how to proceed with Commissioner Vinny Clausi’s request for credit-card receipts from the Adult Probation Department.

The issue has mushroomed into a debate over the public’s right to know, separation of powers and record-keeping procedures in the county.

The News-Item has filed official requests for the same documents through the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law (RTK) and Rule of Judicial Administration 509. While the RTK request was denied, the court has 10 days from the day of receipt, which was Wednesday, to respond to the Rule 509 request.

More here.

Museum keeps contract for Tut exhibit under wraps

The Dallas Morning News has been denied a request for a copy of the contract between the Dallas Museum of Art and the organizers of the "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" exhibit. The museum won't discuss contract terms, reveal how many people saw the exhibit or provide board meeting minutes. The newspapers cites state law that requires most nonprofit organizations to release their financial records.

Taxpayers spend untold millions to subsidize the Dallas Museum of Art. But the museum says they have no right to know what kind of deal it cut with the for-profit organizers of the "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" exhibit.

The Dallas Morning News formally requested a copy of the Tut contract in January, citing a state law that requires most nonprofit organizations to make their financial records public.

Museum lawyer Gary Powell said the DMA would not comply because it promised exhibit organizers absolute confidentiality.

More here.

White House Office of Administration not subject to FOIA

In a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the White House Office of Administration is not required to respond to FOIA requests, Politico reported. The group was seeking information about "an archiving failure which allegedly resulted in millions of White House e-mail messages being misfiled or even lost."

The White House's Office of Administration does not have to respond to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in a 3-0 decision this morning.

"Because nothing in the record indicates that [the Office of Administration] performs or is authorized to perform tasks other than operational and administrative support for the President and his staff, we conclude that OA lacks substantial independent authority and is therefore not an agency under FOIA," Judge Thomas Griffith wrote in an opinion joined by Judges David Sentelle and Raymond Randolph.

The setback for transparency advocates came in a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington seeking information about an archiving failure which allegedly resulted in millions of White House e-mail messages being misfiled or even lost.

More here.

Newspaper fights Naval Academy for records

The Capital has spent three years fighting for Naval Academy records, and the battle is not close to being finished. In March 2006, the Maryland newspaper asked for documents on how the Naval Academy handled sexual misconduct cases and filed an FOIA request. After the academy said no such documents existed, the paper filed another FOIA request for which the academy used a privacy-concern excuse. The Capital hired an attorney, and the navy judge advocate general granted the newspaper's appeal in September 2008. However, The Capital has only received partial documents and none involving the sex abuse cases from 2007 and 2008. The newspaper has filed another request for these documents.

A seemingly simple question about whether the Naval Academy treated men and women fairly in sexual misconduct cases took three years and 3,000 pages of documents to only partially answer.

Getting these documents was not easy even though the Naval Academy is a publicly funded institution. It receives between $200 million and $300 million each year in taxpayer dollars, and applications from between 9,000 and 15,000 of the nation's young people annually.

The Capital became interested in the sex abuse cases after some midshipmen and academy graduates alleged in 2006 that there was a double standard of justice being meted out to male and female mids.

More here.

Conn. Corrections wants to bar inmates from getting personnel files

The Conn. Department of Correction is concerned that inmates can file information requests and obtain home addresses and other data about department employees, the Record-Journal reported. A House bill "would prohibit the department's commissioner from disclosing personnel, medical or similar files, including security investigation records and complaints against current or former correction's employees, to inmates unless there is a court order to do so." Even if the bill were passed, inmates could find personal information about employees on the Web or have family members request the information. Since 2006, only five requests filed by Conn. inmates have been for personnel files.

Sometimes it only takes a letter.

Using the Freedom of Information Act to request employee files, prison inmates can learn the home addresses and disciplinary records of state Department of Correction workers. State law allows them access to the information unless the department can prove that the request would threaten employee safety.

It is a process that concerns the department, which worries that access to such information could lead to its employees being harmed or blackmailed, said Bryan Garnett, the DOC's external affairs director.

More here.

Records indicate shooter had history with Trolley Square

FOI at Work!
The 745 pages of FBI reports on the 18-year-old who shot nine people at Trolley Square revealed that the mall was a childhood hangout for Sulejman Talovic, who also had made racist and violent remarks long before his rampage, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. This article is based on an FOIA request Nate Carlisle filed two years ago.

When 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic walked into Trolley Square and opened fire on shoppers, he was returning to a childhood hangout, according to newly-released FBI documents.

Talovic and his family used to live one block from the mall, and one person told agents Talovic played there with his sisters as a child. Another said Talovic was at Trolley Square "every day," and that the mall "was the only place he went." Someone also recalled Talovic once got into a physical fight with someone at the mall over a video game.

The documents provide the first possible explanation for why Talovic, a Bosnian immigrant who came to the U.S. at the age of 9, chose the mall as the site of his rampage. They also detail racist, violent statements made by Talovic -- among them that he planned to shoot white people like Serbs, had been a member of the Klu Klux Klan, and shot someone in a drug deal gone bad.

More here.

Nev. legislators urged to conduct business in public

The Nevada Legislature is exempt from state open meetings laws, but the Nevada Freedom of Information Coalition is hoping legislators will transcend the law in favor of transparency, San Jose Mercury News reported. The group is asking lawmakers to sign a pledge committing themselves to stronger open government laws and will post who does and does not sign the agreement.

An open government group on Thursday urged legislators to support greater transparency in government and to conduct more state business in public.

Nevada Freedom of Information Coalition president Thomas Mitchell said the group is asking state lawmakers to sign a pledge committing themselves to supporting stronger open meeting and public information laws, and to encouraging better online access to legislative votes and data on state spending.

"This is the public's right to know. If you're going to be citizen, if you're going to vote, if you're going to be involved, you need to know what's going on." Mitchell, the editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, said at a news conference. "Otherwise, we're left in the dark, we're left to guess, we're left to rely on leaks."

More here.

Fort Lauderdale commissioners advised to stay off Facebook

Fort Lauderdale City Attorney Harry Stewart discouraged commissioners from participating in "a Facebook page or any similar interactive communication technology," the Sun Sentinel reported. The attorney general, however, told the city of Coral Springs that a Facebook page was okay but that freedom of information laws would apply. The Sun Sentinel obtained a copy of the attorney general's opinion and has posted it.

We've seen a few stories lately about cities and agencies joining the Twitter or Facebook madness. There's certainly no Facebook craze in Fort Lauderdale City Hall.

City Attorney Harry Stewart advised commissioners against setting up pages on Facebook, or creating personal websites with content that could be public record.

Stewart's full memo about Facebook is here.

More here.

Paterson veteos N.Y. Sunshine Law amendment

New York Gov. David Paterson vetoed a bill that would have allowed judges to fine public agencies for violating the state open meetings law and to invalidate votes and actions taken in those behind-closed-doors meetings, the AP reported. Paterson said he vetoed the bill because it allows for civil penalties to be imposed on local governments, meaning that taxpayers would bear the burden.

New York Gov. David Paterson has vetoed legislation that would have allowed judges to fine school boards, municipal councils and other public bodies up to $500 for violating the state open meetings law.

The measure, which passed the Assembly 142-1 and the Senate by voice vote, would have amended the so-called "Sunshine Law" law that allows judges to invalidate for "good cause" votes or actions taken behind closed doors.

The law is meant to ensure deliberations and decisions are public, with exceptions for personnel matters, litigation, contract negotiations and secret police activities. Formal votes to spend public money must be done in public.

More here.

Great news for open government in Oklahoma

From Dr. Joey Senat, Associate Professor at OSU School of Journalism and Broadcasting:

Records of government business belong to the public even if they are created, received or stored on an official's private smart phone or laptop, according to an Oklahoma AG opinion released Thursday.

"To conclude otherwise would allow public officials and employees to circumvent the open records laws simply by using privately owned personal electronic communication devices to conduct public business," the opinion said.

The opinion also prohibits public officials and employees from altering or destroying public records on their private communication devices unlessallowed to do under the state Records Management Act.

"E-mails, text messages and other electronic communications made or received in connection with the transaction of public business, the expenditure of public funds or the administration of public property are subject to the Oklahoma Open Records Act, [its exemptions] and the Records Management Act regardless of whether they are created, received, transmitted or maintained by government officials on publicly or privately owned equipment and communications devices," the opinion concluded.

Unlike in many other states, attorney general opinions in Oklahoma are binding unless overturned by a court.

Opinion 09-12 noted that government officials and employees increasingly use privately owned "computers, laptops, cell phones, PDAs, smart phones, and other personal electronic communication devices in conjunction with their work."

Public access to such electronic communications became an issue in April 2008. OSU student Jenny Redden, for an independent study with me, reported in The Daily O'Collegian that OSU President Burns Hargis and several hundred other university employees conduct the public's business on their smart phones or cell phones.

OSU administrators claimed the related text-messages, e-mails and numbers dialed were secret. They contended that the ownership of the cellular device, not the substance of its related records, should decide whether those records are public.

That policy earned OSU officials the annual Black Hole Award from FOI Oklahoma Inc. in March.

The notion put forth by OSU poses a serious threat to open government because it contains no limiting principle. If a record is secret because it's on the mayor¹s iPhone, then so are documents on the mayor's own laptop even if he's conducting the public's business on it while seated at his office desk.

Courts and attorneys general in other states have rejected the reasoning used by OSU officials, holding that it is the nature of the record created that determines if it is open to the public.

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondon's office followed suit, saying that nowhere in the Open Records Act "is ownership of equipment mentioned as a factor in determining what is or is not a record."

"We conclude that who owns an electronic communications device has no bearing on whether an electronic communication created or received on that device is a record," the opinion said. "Thus, a communication that meets the definition of a record under the ORA is subject to disclosure regardless of whether it is created or received on a publicly or privately owned personal electronic communication device, unless some provision of law allows it to be kept confidential.

"Nor does the location of the electronic communications equipment matter, whether it is used in a governmental office, in a public official's or employee's home, or somewhere in transit between them," the opinion said.

The opinion also reasoned: "Like the ORA, the RMA makes no distinction between records that exist on publicly owned electronic communication equipment and those on privately owned equipment. Therefore, public officials may not partially or wholly mutilate, destroy, transfer, remove, alter, or otherwise damage or dispose of records on their personal electronic communications devices, except as provided by law."

Read the AG's opinion here.

Jenny's series on open government at OSU can be found at:
http://ocolly.com/2008/04/17/employee-phone-policy-violates-open-records-law
-experts-say/

http://ocolly.com/2008/04/17/osu-could-cut-costs-by-changing-cell-policy/

http://ocolly.com/2008/04/30/regents%E2%80%99-voting-record-under-investigation/


Thank you to Drew Edmondson and Assistant Attorney General Debra Schwartz for this written opinion. It will go a long way toward protecting open government in Oklahoma.

Thank you, also, to Susan McVey, director of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, and Bill Young, the department's public information administrator, for requesting the opinion.

Investigation into sheriff's public appearance will remain private

Information regarding a federal investigation into Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott's appearance at a Sarah Palin rally will not be released to the public, the Naples Daily News reported. The Office of Special Counsel, which announced the inquiry seven months ago, cites the privacy exemption as to why it won't even confirm the existence of the investigation or report on its progress. The appearance gained national attention for Scott's use of Obama's middle name. The investigation was to determine if Scott violated the federal Hatch Act, "which prohibits state and local employees of agencies that accept federal funds from using their office to further partisan aims."

A federal investigation into Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott’s appearance at a campaign rally last year will not become public — due to concerns for the outspoken sheriff’s privacy.

A staff attorney for the Office of Special Counsel, an independent investigative and prosecutorial agency that announced the inquiry into Scott seven months ago, said he was not allowed to even confirm an investigation exists, much less report on its progress.

Privacy concerns will also keep the office from releasing any results of a concluded investigation, the attorney said.

More here.

Obama reverses stance on torture photos

From the AP:

President Barack Obama declared Wednesday he would try to block the court-ordered release of photos showing U.S. troops abusing prisoners, abruptly reversing his position out of concern the pictures would "further inflame anti-American opinion" and endanger U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The White House had said last month it would not oppose the release of dozens of photos from military investigations of alleged misconduct. But American commanders in the war zones have expressed deep concern about fresh damage the photos might do, especially as the U.S. tries to wind down the Iraq war and step up operations against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

Obama, realizing how high emotions run on detainee treatment during the Bush administration and now, made it a point to personally explain his change of heart, stopping to address TV cameras late in the day as he left the White House for a flight to Arizona.

More here.

Ill. AG suggests all privacy exemptions go through her office first

Illinois public agencies wanting to cite privacy as their reason for withholding public records might have to go through the Attorney General's Office first, the Chicago Tribune reported. This proposal is included in Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan's package for pending legislation that would rewrite the state's weak FOIA. The privacy exemption allows officials to withhold anything that constitutes "a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." The Attorney General's Office would determine if using the privacy exemption was appropriately applied and then issue a binding decision.

Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan wants to force public agencies throughout Illinois -- from town halls to school boards -- to report to her office every time they cite privacy as an excuse to withhold public records.

"It is by far the most broadly abused exemption to the state records law," said Cara Smith, Madigan's deputy chief of staff. "We think that is far less likely to happen if they know they have to report it to us every time they use it. If they have a valid reason, then they will have nothing to worry about."

But a top lobbyist for municipal government in Illinois said the idea of elevating one exemption to public-records law over all the others is "without merit."

More here.