FOIA Friday from Ann Arbor

from Ann Arbor.com:

Ann Arbor was ranked as the third most walkable city in the United States, an award presented by Prevention Magazine in 2008. Our city takes sidewalks seriously, with a sidewalk inspection program that ensures homeowners take care of the sidewalk squares in front of their homes.

Even with all of this civic effort, there are inevitably bits of the sidewalk infrastructure that are substandard. Here's an account of two of those locations - one of which has been repaired, and one of which is still in need of repair - and how the Freedom of Information Act process helps understand how work gets done inside a large, complex and ever changing civic organization.

The current FOIA request

Requesting information about the city's knowledge of the current state of repair for a portion of a sidewalk is relatively straightforward...[The author] structured the core portion of [his] request as follows:

Read more here.

World Bank launches Access to Information Appeals Board

from The World Bank:

WASHINGTON, June 30, 2010 – The World Bank today announced the appointment of Mr. Wajahat Habibullah, Mr. Daniel J. Metcalfe and Mr. Olivier Schrameck to serve as members of the independent Access to Information Appeals Board. Their appointments, which were endorsed by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors, will start on July 1, 2010, for two years.

In approving the World Bank Access to Information Policy, which takes effect on July 1, 2010, the Board of Executive Directors approved the establishment of an appeals process that enables parties to file an appeal if their requests for information have been denied by the World Bank....

· Mr. Habibullah is currently the Chief Information Commissioner, Central Information Commission of India, and is an established expert in the area of access to information.

· Mr. Metcalfe is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Washington College of Law, American University. He has both government and legal expertise in freedom of information issues. Mr. Metcalfe served in the United States Department of Justice’s Office of Information and Privacy from its founding in 1981 until his retirement from government service in 2007. He is currently the Executive Director of “Collaboration on Government Secrecy,” a non-partisan academic project devoted to the study of government openness and secrecy.

Read the rest here.

Delaware FOIA: Bill to strengthen law passes through the House

from Delmarvanow.com: DOVER — To address a long-running issue with the state’s Freedom of Information Act, Attorney General Beau Biden strongly supported legislation championed by Senate President Pro Tem Anthony DeLuca, House Speaker Robert Gilligan and Sen. Karen Peterson to strengthen FOIA.

Senate Bill 283 allows the Attorney General’s office to intervene on behalf of citizens in FOIA disputes with state agencies if the agency fails to comply with the office’s advice to produce the requested records.

Under current law, citizens themselves are required to file a lawsuit in FOIA disputes with state agencies.

Read more here.

DoD updates Open Government plan

The Department of Defense has expanded a website outlining its Open Government plan as well as the plan itself, it said Tuesday.

The move is in response to feedback that the agency did not provide a detailed enough version of the plan when it was released in April, according to the agency. On its Open Government website, the DoD has added a "Link Library" to better enable people to find information about its plan to use technology to be more transparent in its activities and engage with U.S. citizens.

Read more here.

Supreme Court says states may disclose petition signatories

from OMB Watch -- On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that states may publicly disclose referendum petition signatures. The case, Doe v. Reed, centers on the public's right to know who signed petitions related to Referendum 71, a 2009 attempt to overturn Washington State’s expanded domestic partner law, which gives gay and lesbian couples the same rights as married couples.

The State of Washington argued that the names of petition signatories should be disclosed upon request, as required by the state's Public Records Act. It further argued that such disclosure helps to sort out whether fraudulent signatures were included on petitions to reach the required number of signatories to qualify an initiative or referendum for the ballot.

The plaintiffs, who included several individual citizens and an anti-gay political action committee, argued that a constitutional right to anonymity for petition signatories always exists. They also argued that even if the Court does not recognize a broad constitutional right, it should recognize that a right exists in this particular case due to the harassment and abuse to which the petition signatories could possibly be exposed...

The Court did not find that a constitutional right to anonymity for petition signatories always exists. Rather, it held that the law permits disclosure of petition signatories. "Such disclosure does not, as a general matter, violate the First Amendment," wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the Court’s majority opinion.

Read more here

No reason to ‘rethink’ new FOIA

From The State Journal-Register -- For decades, government bodies across Illinois became adept at using the Illinois Freedom of Information Act as a handy tool for withholding information from the public.

Until Dec. 31, 2009, the law originally intended to be a window into government was used more as a dead-bolted door to lock out the public. Just about any public request for documents and information could be denied or delayed infinitely based on numerous exemptions and loopholes deftly exploited by public bodies...

That changed on Jan. 1, when the state’s new Freedom of Information Act went into effect...

More than anything, the new law represents a striking change in culture regarding open government in Illinois. Where it had long been assumed that the law favors a public body’s need to keep information secret, the opposite is now true.

And guess what? A lot of public bodies don’t like it one bit.

Read more here.

Right-to-Know law gives India’s poor a lever

It has now become clear that India’s 1.2 billion citizens have been newly empowered by [a[ far-reaching law granting them the right to demand almost any information from the government. The law is backed by stiff fines for bureaucrats who withhold information, a penalty that appears to be ensuring speedy compliance.

The law has not, as some activists hoped, had a major effect on corruption.

..

Still, the law has become part of the fabric of rural India in the five years since it was passed, and has clearly begun to tilt the balance of power, long skewed toward bureaucrats and politicians.

Read more here

Colleges make millions selling access and addresses to Bank of America

Some of the nation’s largest and most elite universities stand to gain millions of dollars from selling the names and addresses of students and alumni to credit card companies while granting the companies special access to school events, the Huffington Post Investigative Fund has found.

The schools and their alumni associations are entitled to receive payments that multiply as students use their cards. Some colleges can receive bonuses when students incur debt.

The little-known agreements have enriched schools and some banks at a time when young women and men already are borrowing at record levels, raising questions about whether such collegiate and corporate alliances are in the best interests of students.

The story is one in a series of articles on student debt produced by the Investigative Fund.

Read more here.

Number of news organizations covering federal agencies has fallen since 2003

In the late 1990s, AJR began to systematically track coverage of federal departments and agencies through the Project on the State of the American Newspaper. One of the goals was to determine how coverage by newspapers and wire services had changed over time.

To do that, AJR selected departments and agencies that deal with everyday issues such as food safety, taxes, airline policy, the economy, veterans' benefits and workplace rules. Four times--in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2004--we checked to see whether they were covered by full-time beat reporters and, if so, by which news outlets. [They] defined full time as two-thirds of a reporter's time covering the department and closely related issues.

[They] did that again this year, thanks to a grant from the Open Society Institute, on the heels of a recession that brought on or accelerated layoffs, buyouts and bureau closings.

Read more here.

Jindal vetoes bill opening oil leak records

Gov. Bobby Jindal late Friday vetoed a bill that was overwhelmingly approved by the Louisiana Legislature and would have made public records related the BP Deepwater Horizons oil rig disaster.

Jindal wrote in his veto message that he thought allowing the public to see the records might undermine the state’s legal position.

State Sen. Robert Adley, who added the provision to House Bill 37 on the Senate floor, unsuccessfully attempted to open more records that Jindal currently keeps secret.

Read more here.

Knight FOI Fund supports another Freedom of Information suit

Columbia, Mo. and San Rafael, Ca. (June 24, 2010) – The First Amendment Coalition (FAC), a member of the National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC), has filed suit against the Los Angeles City Council over the Council’s failure to tell the public, in advance, that it was about to consider and vote on layoffs of thousands of government workers. FAC’s suit, supported by NFOIC's Knight FOI Fund, alleges a “pattern and practice” of violations of the Brown Act and requests declaratory and injunctive relief.

At issue is a City Council special meeting on February 18 at which the Council voted to reaffirm a prior commitment to eliminate 1,000 city jobs and, on top of that, to lay off 3,000 more city employees. Such a controversial action normally would be expected to draw a large crowd of citizens to the Council meeting, many of whom would request to speak about major layoffs. But that did not happen at the February 18 meeting.

The reason? The required public notice for the meeting didn’t give a clue about impending layoffs.

Read more here.

Court of Appeals rules some concealed-handgun permit lists are public records

Oregon, June 23, 2010 -- Some lists bearing the names of holders of concealed-handgun permits must be disclosed under the state public-records law, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled.

The case arose when the Mail Tribune newspaper in Medford and others sought to obtain lists of people with those permits in 2007. But Sheriff Mike Winters declined to make public the records of an estimated 6,500 permit holders in Jackson County, prompting the lawsuit.

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals upheld a 2008 circuit court ruling in favor of the newspaper.

Read more here.

Kagan sought secrecy in 4 of 5 open government cases

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's arguments as solicitor general in several cases on government secrecy were at odds with a promise of transparency made by her boss and top client, President Barack Obama.

In four of five cases she dealt with involving the Freedom of Information Act, Kagan argued in favor of secrecy, Justice Department documents show. In those four lawsuits, the Supreme Court took her side and let lower court rulings in the government's favor stand.

...

In the most widely publicized freedom of information case, Kagan successfully argued that the Supreme Court should overturn a New York appeals court ruling that directed the government to release photographs of foreign detainees being abused by their U.S. captors. The American Civil Liberties Union sought the photos; Obama and the Pentagon opposed their release.

Read more here.

Missouri Senate candidate calls for lawmakers to open records to public

JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- U.S. Senate Candidate Robin Carnahan called for the records of federal lawmakers to be open to the public.

During a campaign stop Monday in Jefferson City, Carnahan called for an expansion of the Freedom of Information Act.

The federal open-records law currently applies to the white house and executive agencies, but not to the U.S. House and Senate.

Read more here.

Millions in SAFETEA-LU transit earmarks are unspent

Washington, D.C. -- Nearly $120 million in Federal Transit Administration earmarks that were introduced and approved by Congress have sat untouched in FTA accounts for years and have now lapsed, according to an FTA list.

The list of unallocated earmarks, which the Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, show that funds for these projects should have been used by September 30, 2009 at the latest, but due to various reasons, were never spent.

...

The $119.2 million in unspent transit funds are from over 150 earmarks Congress approved in 2006 and 2007 that had been set aside under SAFETEA-LU for communities to purchase new buses, plan and build light rail and bus rapid transit projects, and fund state and local evaluations of transit projects.

Read more here.

Bills would chip away at N.J. public's right to know

There is an on-going battle being waged between record keepers and record seekers. The Star-Ledger and citizens often go to court to force reluctant agencies to turn over records they are required to release under the Open Public Records Act [OPRA].

Meanwhile, OPRA constantly is under attack by legislators who apparently don’t want the public to see what government is doing.

Two Assembly bills are the latest attempts to weaken OPRA. One would set per-page copying costs for OPRA records at 10 cents per letter-size page and 15 cents per legal-size page...

But here’s the kicker: An agency could charge those fees for documents delivered electronically.

Read more here.

Supreme Court of Canada rules access to information not a constitutional right

The Supreme Court of Canada has taken a small step toward recognizing that citizens sometimes need access to government documents to exercise freedom of expression, but stopped short of calling it a broad constitutional right.

On a practical level, Thursday’s ruling means that, after 13 years, it is still uncertain whether the public will ever learn details of an OPP report into the botched prosecution of two men charged with murdering reputed mobster Domenic Racco.

On a broader level, the long-awaited decision leaves Canada eclipsed by countries such as South Africa, Norway and Bulgaria, which have made access to information a component of their constitutions.

“We don’t have that and our Supreme Court isn’t willing to take us there either,” said Paul Schabas, a lawyer representing the Canadian Newspaper Association and other media organizations intervening in the case.

Read the rest here.

Bill would open Fannie, Freddie to information requests

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, thinks the internal workings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be open to public scrutiny.

Chaffetz introduced a bill Thursday that would make the two government-sponsored mortgage enterprises — now under conservatorship by the federal government — subject to public records requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

Read the rest here.

Who Owns Public Crime Data?

from the folks at techdirt:

We were recently tipped off to a case in the federal courts that raises all sorts of legal issues about some questionable interpretations of the law -- many of which we've discussed here recently. It involves a Utah company, named Public Engines, suing a competitor, named Report See. Public Engines, it appears, contracts with various police departments around the country to get crime data from them, and then they put that data online in various formats. Its main business tends to be working with law enforcement and providing them software and services around that data. But, it also presents the data publicly on the site CrimeReports.com. Apparently, law enforcement agencies pay Public Engines to provide data to the site.

....

Along comes Report See.

Read more here.

Judge orders records’ release

Green County, AR -- Greene County Circuit Judge Brent Davis ordered the Greene County Tech School District to release documents related to the suspension of several assistant football coaches after a November 2009 playoff trip to Monticello.

The Daily Press requested the documents under the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in December 2009 and the district denied the request, citing an unwarranted invasion of privacy and no compelling public interest in the documents’ release. The newspaper sued the district in February, alleging a willful violation of FOIA. The district responded by claiming the provision of the law cited in the documents’ request was unconstitutional.

After a hearing May 18, Davis requested the district to provide the documents at issue to him for an in camera review.

Read the rest here.

NFOIC Hires Full-time Executive Director

Columbia, Mo. (June 17, 2010) – The National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC), a nonpartisan coalition of open government groups and advocates, announced today that it has hired Ken Bunting as its new, full-time executive director. Bunting will oversee all daily operations of the NFOIC, including fundraising, coalition building, and managing the Knight Freedom of Information Fund, a new initiative created by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support FOI litigation. Bunting will officially assume his new role on July 1, 2010.

As the first full-time executive director of NFOIC, Bunting will administer funds for the Knight FOI Fund and oversee pass-through grants to state freedom of information groups, work daily to strengthen the work of its member coalitions, coordinate an annual conference, publicize the efforts of the NFOIC and its affiliates, and collaborate with a board of directors to chart the future of the organization.

Read the rest here.

Freedom Of Information Act Request concerning Tulsa Zoo giraffe denied

TULSA, OK -- The USDA is conducting a criminal probe surrounding the death of a giraffe at the Tulsa Zoo, possibly involving the transport company that delivered the giraffe to Tulsa. The Tulsa Zoo giraffe suffered a broken neck, apparently during the trip.

The revelation of a criminal probe comes just after the same company delivered a giraffe to a zoo in Missouri, which immediately upon arrival was euthanized because of a broken neck.

More here.

Who gave $1.5 million to pay down the national debt?

from NPR's Planet Money -- Every year, people give the government millions of dollars in gifts to reduce the national debt.

The government reports the total value of the contributions, but it doesn't say anything about the size of each donation, or how many gifts there are.

We wanted to learn more, so we submitted a Freedom of Information Act to the Treasury Department asking for details; they responded with a spreadsheet listing the amount of every donation they've received for the past five years.

The details are pretty interesting. ... more than 1,500 people gave gifts of $100 or less (including a bunch of jokers who donated one cent). But there were some big donations as well — 17 gifts were for more than $100,000. The biggest donation was for more than $1.5 million.

More here.

FOIA surge shows public’s interest in transparency

Downers Grove, IL — Though they didn’t invoke the phrase “unfunded mandate,” Downers Grove officials are worried about how much implementing a revised law is costing.

The Illinois Freedom of Information Act was enhanced last year by the General Assembly and became effective in January. Public officials now have five days to respond to FOIA requests, as opposed to seven. The first 50 pages requested must be provided for free, and the price of reproducing any additional black-and-white, standard-size paper is capped at 15 cents per page.

Downers Grove has experienced a substantial increase in FOIA requests this year. In March 2009, the village received 37 such requests. In March this year, there were 159 requests.

The village has spent more than $38,000 so far this year responding to FOIA requests. Given that we’re not even halfway through 2010, this total could become excessive.

More here.

UVa at center of battles over climate change

The ideological battle over global warming that heated up with last fall’s “Climategate” e-mail controversy has spilled over to the grounds of the University of Virginia.

At the center of the latest skirmish are two former U.Va. professors who represent opposing views on the dangers of climate change.

U.Va. has before it separate demands for information — a civil subpoena from the state attorney general and a Freedom of Information request from Greenpeace. Both resulted from the leak in November of more than a thousand e-mail messages hacked from the climate research unit of the University of East Anglia in England.

U.Va. last month filed a petition in Albemarle County Circuit Court seeking to block Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s civil investigative demands, or CIDs, for climate research by former U.Va. professor Michael Mann.

The university has sought an extension to the FOI request........

More here.

FOI request yields identity of deputy

SUMMERVILLE, SC -- The Dorchester County Sheriff's Office released the name of a suspended deputy Thursday after a Freedom of Information request for records.

Deputy Jason Shrewsbury has been suspended, said Chief Deputy Sam Richardson. The deputy was suspended this week after he allegedly drove a patrol car to a bar where he drank while off duty. Richardson said he had talked with County Attorney John Frampton about the request from The Post and Courier, and the record of the suspension will be released after an internal affairs investigation is complete.

"We have absolutely no problem releasing that information," Richardson said.

More here.

Blagojevich arrest mug shot released

The United States Department of Justice has released the official booking photo of Rod Blagojevich, who was arrested at his Chicago home on Dec. 9, 2008 and later impeached and removed from office.

The release came in response to a Freedom of Information Act request made by WGN-Ch. 9.

The then-governor is seen in the jogging suit he was wearing on the morning of his arrest, when federal agents picked him up in the early hours.

More here.

NCAA appeal struck down in Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Supreme Court refused to hear the NCAA’s appeal that documents related to an academic fraud case are not public record.

...

However, because the document was a communication with a state agency, a judge found it was subject to Florida public records law.

More here.

Proposed changes in public records request law raises concerns

PRESCOTT - A question over what constitutes a "voluminous" request for public records caused a postponement this week in the Prescott City Council's request for a change in state law.

During their voting session on Tuesday, council members agreed to pull the resolution concerning public record requests from the list of proposed law changes it is submitting to the League of Arizona Cities and Towns.

...

The postponement occurred after two local residents - Tom Slaback and former City Councilman Robert Luzius - urged the city to reconsider a resolution that seeks to change state law to allow cities to "recover actual costs" when responding to requests for public records.

More here.

FBI releases investigation files on John Murtha

PITTSBURGH -- FBI files involving extortion and other threats that were made against the late U.S. Rep. John Murtha and corruption cases in which Murtha was investigated are now available for public viewing.

Among the FBI's files are a threatening letter that was sent to Murtha in protest of the Gulf War in 1991 and a 43-page e-mail written by someone who called for Murtha's assassination.

...

The 800-plus pages of documents were released in response to a Freedom Of Information Act request by WTAE and other news organizations.

More here.

Report: Threats to lawmakers increase

Threats against members of Congress have increased 300% this year as lawmakers delve into a host of complicated issues in a particularly charged political environment, Politico reports.

The story, based on FBI documents requested by Politico under the Freedom of Information Act, describes the cases in detail, including a threat made against North Carolina Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler by a 70-year-old voter with "a history of mental illness and a cache of guns" over President Obama's economic stimulus.

More here, and the original Politico article can be found here.

Public records workshop held

The East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists had a workshop Monday, May 24, on open records. The workshop was for journalists, bloggers, and anyone else interested in what kinds of public records are available and how to get them.

The presenter was David Cuillier, Ph.D., chairman of the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee and SPJ newsroom trainer. He is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he teaches public affairs reporting, computer-assisted reporting and access to public records. He's blogging his 45-day speaking tour at Access Across America.

More here.

Newly released FBI papers reveal investigation of columnist

The FBI launched three investigations into the source of classified material made public by newspaper columnist Robert Novak in the 1980s, newly obtained records show.

Previously secret FBI files reveal that the bureau pursued his sources after reading columns by Novak and his writing partner, Rowland Evans, that were published in The Washington Post in 1983 and again in 1987.

...

The revelations are contained in 64 pages of files released Wednesday to The Washington Post in response to an open records request filed after Novak's death in August 2009.

More here.

Corporations do not have personal privacy rights in government records, groups tell US Supreme Court

WASHINGTON - May 25 - Corporations should not be able to claim a personal privacy right to try to shield government documents about them from public view, six public interest organizations told the U.S. Supreme Court late Monday.

In a friend-of-the-court brief, the groups urged the court to grant review of and overturn a lower court decision holding that corporations may invoke "personal privacy" as a legal basis for claiming that embarrassing records should be withheld from public view.

The case is Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T. The groups filing the brief - Public Citizen, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the National Security Archive, OpenTheGovernment.org, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press - urge the court to review a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

More here.

Sunlight Labs creates catalog of government databases

From Federal Computer Week, comes this note:

The Sunlight Labs open government group recently debuted its free online open-source collection of federal, state and local government databases in the United States.

Despite its ambitious name, the group’s National Data Catalog currently only has links to data from the federal Data.gov Web site, as well as data from the District of Columbia and the state of Utah.

Sunlight’s goal is to continue to post more databases and links to federal, state and local datasets. The national data catalog platform consists of a Web application and an Application Programming Interface. Users can register to obtain their own dashboard allowing them to search and examine the data.

For more, see the FCW post.

Missouri auditor documents open government issues

From the office of Susan Montee, Missouri State Auditor, comes a new audit summarizing "a variety of audit issues and recommendations regarding the Sunshine Law, Chapter 610, RSMo, and other issues related to meeting minutes, was compiled using audit reports issued between January 2008 and December 2009. These issues were addressed in 59 audit reports."

The issue of closed meetings, proper documentation for closed meetings, posting of meeting agendas, and public access to records are addressed in this report, as are recommendations regarding the Sunshine Law.

For more, visit the Introduction and then the complete audit report (PDF).

FOI Summit: Nisbet Delivered Keynote Speech

Miriam M. Nisbet, director of the Office of Government Information Services at the National Archives and Records Administration, delivered the keynote address at the National Freedom of Information Coalition Summit. (Photo by Michael T. Martinez)

Miriam Nisbet discussed her role and efforts as the inaugural director of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), National Archives and Records Administration, the new FOIA ombudsman office created by the 2007 amendments to the federal Freedom of Information Act. Nisbet discussed OGIS's two statutory missions - to provide mediation services and to review agency compliance with FOIA and provide recommendations to Congress and the President for improvements.

"Having an administration that is promoting open government, really pushing for agencies to work in open ways, and a president that knows how to spell FOIA is extremely helpful," said Nisbet. "Talking about changing the culture, to think about openness, not making access and afterthought or added layer. Even having that talked about at the leadership level is a huge improvement in the federal government."

Nisbet said her small staff mediates FOIA disputes as they come in and has handled roughly 200 cases since the office opened in September 2009.

OGIS also works with a designated FOIA liaison at every federal agency who is tasked with tracking the status and scope of FOIA requests and to handle disputes. OGIS is providing dispute resolution training to these new FOIA liaisons.

When Bill Lueders of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council asked about the "culture of contempt for the public's right to know" that pervades in Washington, Nisbet acknowledged it is a problem. "I really can't argue with you," Nisbet said. “Not everyone has gotten the word that you can make discretionary releases of information that is exempt. We’re working on that.”

Nisbet also addressed concerns that OGIS was not an independent institution. “We feel pretty comfortable that we are independent," said Nisbet, who said she has not had one inkling that OGIS is not independent. "So far, so good,” she quipped.

As a means for identifying issues at the agency level, Nisbet cited the agency annual reports and new reports required from the new FOIA liaisons as a means to establish metrics for the scope of FOIA issues and problems. OGIS will also be looking at technological improvements to be made, and will have a database expert joining their staff shortly, said Nisbet.

Overall, Nisbet said she views the ombudsman piece of the overall mission as striving "to be a resource for anyone who needs assistance in making the FOIA work better."

-

-

FOI Summit: FOI Litigation

Lucy Dalglish, executive director of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (clockwise from top), Andrea Flynn Mogensen, sole practitioner specializing in open-government litigation, Ashley Messenger, media lawyer, and Ginger Stanley, executive director of Virginia Press Association/Virginia Press Services, Inc., spoke about the state of the news media economy and the cost of litigation. (Photo by Michael T. Martinez)

The FOI Summit session "FOI Litigation" discussed the state of the news media economy relative to FOI advocacy and the Knight FOI Fund. Here are notes from the session:

• Dalglish expressed the concern that news organizations aren't paying for litigation and precedent now, but are simply trying to stay alive. She is concerned that local governments have figured out that the news media cannot afford to fight for public records. Dalglish reminded attendees, "You have to get involved in the process, nobody else is going to take care of it."
• Stanley said she works to help build coalitions of organizations that will fight for FOI access and share litigation expenses. Stanley said the true danger of not challenging public bodies on their interpretations of the law is that we end up with law with no teeth.
• Messenger said reporters still find it is easier to get a document leaked from an internal source than to request the same document through a public records request.
• Messenger challenged news organizations to fight for access on principal as a way of establishing credibility for the organization. She commended the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star for training its reporters on the law, encouraging reporters to make public records requests, and backing up its reporters when requests are denied. Messenger said thinking of FOIA as part of the business plan not only establishes credibility, but it also minimizes fights on future responses as the governmental entities know that the news organization will fight for public records access.
• Messenger said the most common error she sees are poorly drafted public records requests. She said requests must be strategically planned and narrowly defined. She said reporters and news organizations must be mindful of the costs associated with requests for e-mails and text messages.
• Mogensen acknowledged that the battle of resources is often what is at stake in FOI litigation. She said fee-shifting statutes are a powerful tool for citizens. The panelists discussed the need for lobbying efforts to allow for fee-shifting in states where it is not required or in Louisiana, where the unsuccessful FOI litigant must pay for the government's litigation expenses as well.
• Regarding privacy concerns in public information, Stanley suggested government does not need to collect so much information about people; instead, the government should collect only information that is necessary and required by law, she said. As a press association, Stanley said she tries to ease fears that the media will help identity thieves, but said governmental agencies should keep basic information like names, addresses, and partial social security numbers open to the public.
• Dalglish urged news organizations to include daycare center operators, employers, landlords, and information businesses like Lexis and Westlaw in suits where the practical obscurity argument arises.

FOI Summit: Transparency in the Digital Age: The report card, thus far

Thomas Sussman, director of the Governmental Affairs Office of the American Bar Association (clockwise from top left), J.H. Snider, president of iSolon.org, John Wonderlich, policy director of The Sunlight Foundation, and David Donald, data editor for The Center for Public Integrity, spoke on access to information in the digital age. (Photo by Michael T. Martinez)

Attendees heard from experts breathlessly working to transform access to governmental information. Here are notes from the FOI Summit session "Transparency in the Digital Age: The report card, thus far":

• Donald discussed the Obama administration's efforts to make data available. He said government should be doing two main things to make data available: (1) to make raw data available; and (2) to make machine-readable data available. Donald said government should be working to "wholesale" data, not "retail" data. For example, when the government provides a website that allows the user to search for data in an active server page, Donald said the government acts as a retailer. Instead, the government should provide all of the raw data at once, like a wholesaler. Donald praised previous efforts to win the format battle, saying machine readable data has become more of the norm than pdf documents.
• Donald recommended attendees explore the Gov 2.0 Expo website and the everyblock.com website, which provides unfiltered data for local communities, although Donald caution that the data on the site may have dirty data problems.
• Wonderlich outlined how the public citizen online can be relevant to government and the systemic changes necessary to obtain affirmative disclosure of public information. Wonderlich noted legislative efforts like Faster FOIA and improved training of FOIA officers could improve the culture among the compliance community.
• Snider focused on the "glass half-empty" with respect to the relationship between open government and information technology. Snider suggested the Open Government Directive has "severe weaknesses" like a poor definition for "high-value datasets." Snider posited that a "principal-agent" framework and a "conflict of interest ontology" would improve access and interpretation of publicly available data.
  

FOI Summit: Freeman Honored with Heroes of the 50 States Award

Robert J. Freeman was honored by the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Society of Professional Journalists with the Heroes of the 50 States: The Open Government Hall of Fame Award for 2010. (Photo by Michael T. Martinez)

Robert Freeman received the highest and most meaningful award for state and local freedom of information work to honor his work with the Committee on Open Government in New York. Freeman said his greatest achievement has been that the state's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) has become part of the culture, noting that New Yorkers use "FOIL" as a noun and verb without knowing what it stands for, but knowing that FOIL allows them to get public information.

FOI Summit: Davis Recognized for Service to NFOIC

Hyde Post of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation presented outgoing executive director Charles Davis, left, with a statue to commemorate his years of service to the National Freedom of Information Coalition. (Photo by Michael T. Martinez)

FOI Summit: Coalition Sustainability and Fundraising

Chris Pabon, director of development for the Project on Government Oversight (clockwise from top), Katherine Sawyer, fundraiser, Douglas Stewart, director of foundation relations with the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, and Jennifer Cox, development director for Taxpayers for Common Sense, discuss fundraising strategies and tactics for non-profit organizations. (Photo by Michael T. Martinez)



Because the Knight FOI Fund to support Freedom of Information litigation requires grants of more than $5,000 to receive matching funds, the panelists spoken on tips and best practices for fundraising. Here are notes from the FOI Summit session, "Coalition Sustainability and Fundraising":

• There are four steps to fundraising, according to Cox. "Plan, plan, plan, work your plan."
• "If you don't ask for money, you won't get it," reminded Pabon. Pabon emphasized the need to ask for support for your organization. He suggests adding an ask in the signature line of your e-mail, such as "Please support us in our work."
• Cox added that involving people in the work of your organization makes it easier to ask for money. Share the vision of your work and show donors how your organizations have common goals and ambitions, reminded Cox. Pabon suggested sending donors a small note or e-mail showing them what you are doing with their money.
• "Thank before you bank," reminded Cox. Remember that a person or an institution gave you money. Pabon said the thank you note conveys the image and impression of your organization, and as such, it should be timely, sincere, and typo-free.
• Cox highlighted the importance of diversifying your donors, and argues against going back to the same donors time and again. Cox also pointed out that small gifts can add up, and suggested asking for support from little and big donors.
• "People have the right to say no," said Cox. If you are rejected, do not try to change their minds, but simply keep them updated about your work and move on.
• With respect to fundraising from foundations, Stewart said there's no magic bullet and reminded attendees that it's "long work" in which the grant proposal is the last step, not the first.
• "Less is more" in institutional fundraising, said Stewart. Remember that the people tasked with reading grant proposals are bombarded with proposals. Keep a letter of inquiry short no more than two pages in length. Pabon suggested using an appropriate font and margins to make the letters earsy to read, and put in the first paragraph who you are, what you're asking for, and why. Pabon also recommended using bullet points for deliverables, and closing with a paragraph that identifies other donors who are supporting your organization.
• Stewart reminded attendees to network with other grantees of the foundation. He called this technique the "press the flesh policy."
• Sawyer advised attendees to be thoughtful and strategic with respect to events. "If you don't have to do an event, don't," she advised. "It's a lot of work and details." Like letters of inquiry, Stewart said less is more with events also. She advised attendees to consider smaller, more frequent events that allow for more quality time with the donors than larger, annual events. "It's not about dollars," added Cox. "You spend money to meet people" and then follow-up after the face-to-face interaction.
• The panelists favored "house parties," a small dinner or cocktail party that allows the executive director of your organization to introduce the organization to 5 - 10 potential donors in one to two hours. The house party should end with a pitch from the organizer along the lines of "If you love what we're doing, please support our work."
• Be strategic about selecting a host for a house party, though. Pabon said the host is "key" to a successful house party. Others suggested inviting guests to the house party who would want to network with each other (e.g., local lawyers and business owners).
• The panelists reminded attendees not to trim development expenses. Development work should be viewed as an investment, not an expense, said Pabon.
• Finally, the panelists encouraged attendees not to give up or get discouraged. "A rejection once is not final," said Pabon. Just keep following up!
• The panelists recommended Kim Klein's article, "The Ten Most Important Things You can Know about Fundraising" available from the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training.

U.S. Forest Service Employees on "Stand-Down" from Talking to the Media

The Rural Blog brings us this post about the U.S. Forest Service prohibiting its law enforcement and investigations (LEI) employees from speaking to local media without approval from Washington. The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility obtained a memo outlining the policy, which critics say stifles access to government records.

"Until further notice all LEI employees are on stand-down from communicating with local and/or national media contacts without clearance from the Director, LEI and Press Office, Media desk in the Washington Office," wrote David Ferrell, the agency's LEI director in the Sept. 1, 2009 memo.

ProPublica Challenges U.S. Supreme Court Assertion

ProPublica decided to challenge a premise in the U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion of the Citizens United case, which overturned limits on corporate election spending . Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, "With the advent of the Internet, disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions and supporters."

ProPublica tested this assertion by looking at fundraisers held by 16 lawmakers at two Bruce Springsteen concerts last year. "While we found many records online, none of them clearly identified those who attended the fundraisers or how much money was raised. At best, we ended up with a handful of possible attendees. At worst, we were left with no clues at all," wrote Sebastian Jones of ProPublica.

For details, click here.

Media Organizations Lobby to Quash Certain E-mail Disclosures

John Cook, a senior national reporter and blogger for Yahoo! News, is miffed at The Associated Press for what he says appears to be collaboration with the government to deny a New York Freedom of Information Law request that seeks e-mails between New York Gov. David Paterson's former communications director, former press secretary, and various news organization representatives. Cook reports the Hearst Corporation objected to the release of the e-mails on grounds that confidential sources could have been revealed in the e-mails.

Cook claims David Schulz, a media attorney in private practice, had been making inquiries whether New York's journalist shield law could serve as a possible justification for denying the FOIL request. Cook quotes Lucy Dalglish of the Reporters Committee for a Free Press as describing the government's invocation of the shield law to protect a journalist's sources as "an almost comical inversion of the law's intended purpose -- to protect journalists from the government."

Read more here.

Disputing the Claim that FERPA Applies to all University Documents

The general counsel for Central Michigan University redacted several pieces of "directory information" when responding to a FOIA request by Central Michigan Life for all FOIA requests submitted to the university from July 1, 2009 to Feb. 2, 2010. Nearly 21 percent of the 43 FOIA requests had information redacted on grounds of protecting citizens from "an unwarranted invasion of their privacy" and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Chairwoman of the Society of Professional Journalists FERPA committee Carolyn Carlson said schools tend to "be very creative in the way they misuse FERPA," disagreeing with the university general counsel's position that every piece of paper held by the university is an educational record.

For more, click here.

NASA Ranks First in an Audit of Agency Open Government Plans

OpenTheGovernment.org, using a team of volunteers from non-profit groups, academia, and other organizations, conducted an audit of the strongest and weakest agency Open Government Plans. The Obama administration's Open Government Directive required executive agencies to develop and publish Open Government Plans by April 7. The results of the independent audit rank NASA at the top of its list, and the Justice Department at the bottom.

For more information, click here.

Judicial Watch: White House Visitor Logs are Subject to the FOIA

Judicial Watch, a public interest organization that has sued seeking White House visitor logs from January 20, 2009 to the present, is taking the Justice Department to task for a statement the Department made in an April 21 court filing. The Justice Department claimed White House visitor logs are not subject to the FOIA, arguing cases cited by Judicial Watch in its Motion for Partial Summary Judgment were "incorrectly decided" and that releasing the logs would compromise national security.

Judicial Watch maintained that the visitor logs are subject to FOIA as they are "created by" the U.S. Secret Service and that they remain "under agency control."

For more information, click here.

"Limiting Knowledge in a Democracy" Social Research Conference Rescheduled

The New School's Social Research Conference "Limiting Knowledge in a Democracy" has a rescheduled date, May 27, 2010, after heavy snowfalls canceled February sessions. The event features award-winning journalists, distinguished scholars, and policy makers who will examine how the U.S. government and other political and cultural institutions distort or affect the flow of information. Anthony Romero will speak.

For more information, click here.

Alabama Governor Exempts 911 Recordings from Public Records Laws

Alabama Governor Bob Riley signed into law a bill that exempts 911 recordings from release under the state's public records laws. Only a court order will compel the disclosure of the audio tapes if the court first finds the public interest outweighs the individual's privacy interest. Transcripts of the 911 calls may be release for a "reasonable fee."

More here.

FOIA at Work: ABC Spent $228 Million Filming "Lost"

The Honolulu Advertiser used a FOIA request to discover that the ABC series "Lost" spent $228 million filming in Hawaii from 2006 to 2009 and employed an average of 973 people for each of the four years.

For more information, click here.

FBI Adds Electronic Form for FOIA Requests

The FBI has a new electronic form designed to make requesting information easier. In addition, the bureau has retooled it records website, including a guide for research in FBI Records.

Of course, filing a request has always been the easiest part of making a FOIA request of the FBI. George Washington University's National Security Archive has criticized the bureau for its high percentage of "no records exist" responses in 2008, and the low percentage of requests granted by the FBIA.

For more, click here.

Justice Scalia Says Democracy Requires "Civic Courage"

"Trust but verify, I like that," said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anontin Scalia during the oral arguments in the case of Doe v. Reed, a case to decide whether the signature petitions to overturn Washington state's R-71 are public records and can be disclosed.

Justice Scalia's statements hint that the state public records law will prevail. He noted that voting was public for the first century of U.S. history, "you either did it raising your hand or by voice, or later, you had a ballot that was very visibly red or blue so that people knew which party you were voting for -- the fact is that running a democracy takes a certain amount of civic courage. And the First Amendment does not protect you from criticism or even nasty phone calls when you exercise your political rights to legislate, or to take part in the legislative process."

Click here for more, including transcripts of the oral arguments.

For more background on the case, click here.

Committee to Protect Journalists Says Obama's FOIA Approach Needs "Teeth and Muscles"

The Committee to Protect Journalists says the Obama administration's Open Government Initiative needs "teeth and muscles if the new promise is to produce any better results" than previous administrations.

Citing failures of the military to be forthcoming about various incidents, including the 2007 New Baghdad shooting where U.S. forces fired on Iraqi civilians, killing many, including two Reuters journalists. After the website WikiLeaks posted a classified video online on April 5, the Pentagon posted a redacted assessment of the incident, concluding U.S. troops fired "in accordance with the law of armed conflict and rules of engagement."

Read more here.

Alabama Legislature Blocks Access to 911 Calls

The Alabama Legislature approved a bill to block access to audio portions of 911 calls to all but those involved in a call. A written transcript of the call could only be made public by court order.

The bill limits the ability to track the competence of 911 call center employees.

For more about the bill, click here.

Senate Judiciary Committee OK's Commission to Study FOIA Delays

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill to establish a commission to study why thousands of requests for government information are backlogged, sometimes for years, and to study why FOIA exemptions have been increasingly cited by federal agencies to prevent the release of information.

The bill now moves to the full Senate for a vote.

Read more here.

Make Public Information Free and Online From Its Creation

"The test of right-to-know laws is the accessibility to the information that public officials don't want to give you," writes J.H. Snider in an opinion piece for The Washington Post.

Snider details the difficulties and struggles he's encountered trying to obtain public information from officials in Maryland.

He argues the state should adopt legislation that makes information online and free to the public from the moment of its creation. He also suggests document creation be separated from control. "Until now, the only practical option was to give the foxes control of the chicken coop; that is, creators of public records also had control of access to them," writes Snider. "But with the advent of the Internet, this argument no longer holds." An independent body could be used to archive and post materials online, suggests Snider.

California Open Government Group Sues for Palin Contract

Californians Aware, an open government group, filed suite against California State University, Stanislaus, seeking the release of information related to a planned speech by Sarah Palin. The group would like the contract between Palin and the school nonprofit foundation, which the school says are exempt from the California Public Records Act.

Several CSU Stanislaus students retrieved portions of the contract from a trash bin outside the campus administration building. The document outlines perks like first-class airfare for two and luxury hotel accommodations. It also sets forth the manner in which pre-screened questions will be asked by a moderator. The amount of the speaking fee has not been disclosed.

Read more here.

New Mexico Attorney General Says Governor Potentially Violated Open Records Laws

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King says Gov. Bill Richardson's office may have violated the state's open records laws when it did not disclose the names of workers who lost their jobs, the agencies they worked for or their salaries in response to news media requests for that information. Richardson disagrees with the attorney general's opinion.

Read more here.

Betsy Russell Wins 2010 Max Dalton Open Government Award

Betsy Russell, a Boise reporter for the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, won the 2010 Max Dalton Open Government Award from the Idaho Newspaper Foundation. Russell has been president of the Idaho Press Club and chair of the Idahoans for Openness in Government since 2004. She also serves on the Idaho Supreme Court's Media/Courts Committee. Russell has worked to strengthen the state's open meeting and public records laws.

Read more here.

Could Better FOIA Response Have Averted the Massey Energy Mine Disaster?

A January 2010 inspection report covering the Massey Energy Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia shows a federal safety inspector saw a flawed ventilation system and was told "not to worry about it," reports The Huffington Post. The company was fined $70,000 for an "unwarrantable failure" to follow safety rules. The Charleston Gazette's Ken Ward Jr. first reported about the documents, which weren't released by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) until more than a week after the April mine explosion.

The timing leaves journalists wondering if a more transparent MSHA could have averted the mine disaster. The Huffington Post reports how Ellen Smith, the managing editor of the Mine Safety and Health News newsletter, used to praise MSHA for its freedom of information work until the Bush administration used the 9/11 attacks as a reason to clamp down on information. Despite the Obama administration's emphasis on improved transparency, Smith thinks disclosure has gotten worse under Obama.

Read more here.

Kentucky Governor Allows School Boards to Evaluate Superintendents in Secret

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear reversed recent court decisions by signing into law a bill that allows school boards to deliver superintendent evaluations behind closed doors.

Read more from the Kentucky Open Government Blog here.

Kentucky Gets an "A" in Online Transparency for Government Spending Info

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group gave Kentucky top marks for effectiveness in providing online access to government spending information. Kentucky was the only state to earn an "A" in the category. Kentucky updates information twice daily on state agency budgets, salary information for state employees, and databases for grants, contracts, and line-item expenditures.

At least 32 states currently provide online access to government expenditures.

Click here for more information.

Georgia Senate Adds 911 Calls to Open Records Exemptions

In addition to crime scene photographs, the Georgia Senate also wants to exclude 911 emergency calls that reveal a victim's "personal suffering" from the state's Open Records Act. It was an amendment to the bill unanimously passed by the House that excludes crime scene photographs from the Open Records Act.

Read more here.

Holder Troubled by FOIA "Exceptions" used by Administration

Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee he was troubled by the findings of The Associated Press regarding FOIA statistics that showed the administration was citing FOIA exceptions to withhold records more often, even as requests for information has decreased. He said he would find out why the use of exceptions has increased, despite President Barack Obama's directions for more openness.

Read more here.

Taking Pictures in the Dark

Ashley Welford-Costelloe is a 23 year-old journalism student at Conestoga College, and she's doing well in a required photography class. What makes her remarkable is that she's completely blind, too.

Read here to find out how someone who doesn't know what shadows look like can take pictures in a subject that is all about light.

Massey Mine Disaster Investigation - Open or Closed to the Public?

The Charleston Gazette would like the federal and state investigations into the Massey Mine Disaster of April 11 to be public hearings. To allow investigative interviews to be conducted in the open, despite the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration's historic insistence that the proceedings be conducted behind closed doors. The question remains, will President Barack Obama's open government initiatives have any influence on the proceedings?

Read more here.

CJR Debate: What Should Remain Private in a World where Everything could be Public?

The Columbia Journalism Review challenged the blogosphere to debate the question: What should remain private in a world where everything could be public?

The question stems from the Georgia House's unanimous passage of a bill that prohibits all but credentialed press members from viewing crime scene photos. Even the press, though, cannot remove or copy the photos and must view them under the supervision of a Georgia Bureau of Investigations records custodian. Legislators moved to pass the bill after a Hustler true-crime writer made an open records request to view the autopsy report and crime scene photographs of 24 year-old Meredith Emerson, who was murdered while hiking near the Appalachian Trail in 2008. The photos are said to depict Emerson's nude, decapitated body.

The Columbia Journalism Review argues the issues raised by the crime scene photograph requests should be made on a case-by-case basis.

To join the debate, click here or post a comment to our blog.

Idaho Wolf Hunters Protected at Expense of Public Records Law

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter signed a law on April 8 that removes state-issued hunting permits, licenses and tags from the public record and that makes it illegal to "harass, intimidate or threaten" hunters via telephone, e-mail or website postings. The move of creating a public records exemption for a specific, small group sets a dangerous precedent and threatens to chisel away at transparency laws to where they become obsolete.

The Idaho law was prompted by the records request of a local activist who then posted the names of wolf hunters on a website.

For more information, click here.

Fraternal Order of Police Sues City of Jacksonville, Florida

The Fraternal Order of Police has sued the city of Jacksonville, Florida, over an 85-point public records request last fall that has gone unfulfilled. Among the records sought are e-mails from Mayor John Peyton's staff and City Council members regarding a proposed 3-percent pay cut for the police union and other unions.

The city says the records need to be reviewed by attorneys and redacted for negotiating strategy information.

For more, click here.

University of Texas Withholds Tax Docs, While Texas A&M Makes them Public

The University of Texas System, comprised of 15 academic and health campuses, is withholding its annual tax return filings pending a ruling of the Texas attorney general's office and an IRS audit of the system. In contrast, the Texas A&M University System says its tax return is a public record under state law, despite also being the focus of an IRS audit.

For more on these requests, click here.

ProPublica Gets Blocked Plane List

ProPublica obtained a list from a Federal Aviation Administration program that allows aircraft owners to block flight information from tracking websites. Among those who have asked to be placed on the list:

• South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds - The superintendent of the state's Highway Patrol said the aircraft was placed on the list for security reasons;
• Aircrafts owned by an University of Alabama athletic booster club, the University of Florida, Penn State and the University of Mississippi;
• Coby Brooks, the CEO of Hooters - the Hooters spokesman said they use the plane to conduct unannounced checks on restaurants; and
• Televangelist Kenneth Copeland and his Eagle Mountain International Church in Newark, Texas.

For a more complete list of aircrafts on the special FAA list, click here.

Surveillance Camera Performers

After Columbia, Missouri voters approved placing security cameras downtown, one resident started the COMO Surveillance Camera Players. The idea is to have the actors perform in front of the cameras and then make a Sunshine Law request for the video.

The group of more than a hundred envisions doing art, reading poetry, and making political messages for the downtown cameras. The group's leader, Shane Ferguson, says the performers themselves may discourage crime. "What criminals are going to go where there are a bunch of artsy fartsy things happening in front of a camera?" Ferguson asked.

Fore more, click here.

First Amendment Coalition Seeks Details of Palin and Clinton Speeches

The First Amendment Coalition has filed requests under the Public Records Act for the speaking contracts for Sarah Palin's planned appearance at a fundraising event for CSU Stanislaus in June and for Bill Clinton's speech at UC Berkeley in February.

For more about the legal issues raised by these records requests, click here.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Obtains FBI Records on the Paper

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch obtained more than 1,200 pages of FBI records through FOIA requests, and the records show how the FBI under Director J. Edgar Hoover kept tabs on the newspaper.

Click here to see the documents.

Colorado School Board Ordered to Release Closed-Door Meeting Records

Former technology director Harriett White won a victory on several of her claims in a lawsuit against her former employer, the Brush School District in Colorado. A district court judge has ordered the school board to release complete or partial records from 11 closed-door meetings conducted in violation of the Colorado Open Meetings Law. The lawsuit touches on nearly every executive session held by the school board during 2009.

Get the details here.

U.S. Military Cannot Find Its Video to Authenticate Leaked Video

A spokesman for U.S. Central Command says the U.S. military cannot find its copy of a video showing two Reuters news agency employees being killed by Army helicopters in 2007. A leaked version of the video circulated the Internet and was posted on Wikileaks.org on the "collateralmurder.com" site.

The video includes audio of troops calling to "light 'em up!" and referring to the men as "dead bastards." An internal investigation concluded the troops acted appropriately, despite mistaking the camera equipment for weapons.

Click here for more information.

New Mexico Foundation for Open Government Awards Announced

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government awarded state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones the 2010 William S. Dixon First Amendment Freedom Award for her efforts to force webcasting at the state Legislature. Arnold-Jones won in the category for law and government.

Heath Haussamen of NMPolitics.net nominated Arnold-Jones, writing "it's rare for an elected official to stand up to a broken system in such a courageous manner and start a movement that so dramatically changes things."

Other award winners this year include Norman Becker, president and CEO of New Mexico Mutual; Winston Brooks, superintendent of the Albuquerque Public Schools; attorney Hal Simmons; and Robert B. Trapp, managing editor of the Rio Grande Sun.

For more about the awards, click here.

Round-up of the Sunlight Foundation's TransparencyCamp

The second annual TransparencyCamp highlighted several hot ways to mine government data. Check out these some of the websites discussed at the "unconference" for techie types and activists:

• OpenCongress.org - the group tries to bring transparency to Capitol Hill
• LittleSis.org - the answer to Big Brother, attempts to show ties between business and politics by serving as an "involuntary Facebook" where the public can post information
• TheVoterGuideorg - builds "hyperlocal" online election guides
• Data.gov and Recovery.gov - the sites try to make federal data about the Recovery Act accessible

Read more about the event here.

Legal Settlements Must be on Public Meeting Agendas

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law a measure to force governmental bodies to report legal settlements on their meeting agendas. The measure also says entities cannot use confidentiality agreements as an excuse to keep settlements secret.

The law was prompted by a secret $200,000 payment to an aide of a former Papillion mayor last year after the aide alleged former Mayor James Blinn had sexually harassed and assaulted her.

Read more here.

Federal Agencies Announce Open Government Plans

Federal departments and agencies released their Open Government Plans today. The Plains aim to make operations and data more transparent and increase opportunities for citizen oversight of the government.

Examples of each agency's "flagship initiative" include:

• Department of Health and Human Services' Community Health Data Initiative: The department will provide a free, large-scale Community Health Data Set including downloadable data on community health care costs, quality, access, and public health.
• Department of Energy's Open Energy Information Initiative: The department will make more than 60 clean energy resources and data sets, including maps of worldwide solar and wind potential, information on climate zones, and best practices available.
• Department of Housing and Urban Development's Homelessness Prevention Resources Initiative: The department will develop tools to predict communities that are at risk so that resources can be allotted to prevent homelessness.

For more information, click here.

Investigative Records into Six-Year-Old's Suicide Withheld

The Yamhill County, Oregon, district attorney denied access to records of a police investigation into the death of a 6-year-old girl. The medical examiner concluded the child committed suicide, while the police detectives believed the death was an accident. The district attorney said there was no evidence of abuse or foul play.

The McMinnville Police Department refused to release the investigation documents on grounds that the public records law allows documents to be withheld if releasing them would be a "highly offensive" invasion. District Attorney Brad Berry refused to release the documents on grounds that the public interest fails to outweigh the invasion of personal privacy to the family of Samantha Kuberski.

State Department of Human Services officials say the girl is thought to be the youngest person to ever commit suicide in Oregon.

For details of how the child died, click here.

Diverse Groups Press Texas Energy Company for Increased Disclosure

As Austin, Texas, seeks to get 30 percent of its power from renewable energy sources by 2020, big industrials, environmental activists, and civic watchdogs find themselves agreeing on another goal - increased disclosure from Austin Energy.

The groups point to a $2.3 billion deal for a wood waste plant, a deal signed two years ago without much public scrutiny or input. Austin Energy officials have acknowledged they mishandled public debate over the wood waste plant, which did not begin until the City Council voted to sign the contract.

Austin Energy says it is reviewing its information with an eye toward increased disclosure without compromising its confidential information.

Read more details here.

A $27,000 Price Tag to Know How Much Road Fight has Cost Taxpayers

The Taxpayer Association of Kane County, Utah, was astounded when it received the estimated cost of its request for records regarding how much the county has spent battling the federal Bureau of Land Management regarding ownership of public roads in southern Utah -- $27,000 and a few years.

The group does not take a position in the litigation over the removal of 31 BLM road closure signs on hundreds of public roads in 2003, but it does want to know how much the fight has cost the county. The taxpayer group requested information regarding how much money has been spent from the general fund; how much time county employees have spent on road projects; how much has been spent on private contractors; all attorneys fees; any costs for vehicles or equipment; per diem costs for associated travel; and any surveys and maps created.

The Kane County attorney maintains the scope of the request is too broad and vague to merit a reasonable response in terms of cost and time, estimating it would take two paid researchers at least 1,500 hours to gather the information requested.

For more information, click here.

Oklahoma Sells Birth Dates as Legislators Try to Block Access

While the state legislature considers restricting public access to birth dates of state employees, The Oklahoman reports that Oklahoma has made at least $65 million selling the same personal information from its motor vehicle records to private companies like NIC Inc., ChoicePoint/LexisNexis, Insurance Information Exchange, American Driving Records, and Acxiom Information Security Services.

Read more here.

University of Michigan Claims Open Meetings Act Unconstitutional

As a defense to a lawsuit alleging that a February 3 meeting violated the Open Meetings Act, the University of Michigan Board of Regents is asserting that the law is unconstitutional. The meeting was allegedly held to discuss an NCAA probe into the university football program, and the school asserts the meeting was closed for attorney-client privileged communications.

The university's brief argues the Open Meetings Act is an "unconstitutional infringement upon the Regents' autonomy and authority over the general supervision of the University of Michigan."

Read more about the lawsuit and defense here.