Michigan Court of Appeals Asks Legislature to Update the State's FOIA

In a "friendly" lawsuit set up to determine whether emails from teacher union leaders are public records if they are contained in a school district's computer system, the Michigan Court of Appeals said no, they are not.

The Court also asked the Legislature to clarify and update the state's 33-year old Freedom of Information Act to address electronic records. Judges Mark J. Cavanagh, E. Thomas Fitzgerald and Douglas B. Shapiro wrote that the case presented a "difficult question requiring that we apply a statute, whose purpose is to render government transparent, to a technology that did not exist in reality (or even in many people's imaginations) at the time."

Read more about the decision here.

Proposed Iowa Public Information Board Being Considered

Iowa State Sen. Pam Jochum (D-Dubuque) is proposing a new state agency called the Iowa Public Information Board that would aid citizens with access to public records, assist local governments interpret open records laws, and aid in enforcement if a government agency has violated the law or mediation isn't successful.

Jochum says funding is an issue for the state. She proposes a five-member panel be appointed to outline the agency and the functions of the executive director. The Iowa Freedom of Information Council has offered to cover the $6,000 expenses for the exploratory panel.

Read more about the proposed agency here.

Records Show Who Wanted to be the New USF Football Coach

The Tampa Tribune filed a public records request to find out who applied for the University of South Florida head football coach position after the university dismissed former coach Jim Leavitt.

Although Skip Holtz got the job, records show that the university received materials from coaches all over the country who were interested in the position, but not from Holtz.

Click here to find out who applied for the spot.

Wisconsin Bill Proposes to Remove Certain Court Records from Public Access

A Wisconsin Assembly committee is considering a bill that would remove public access to online information about pending court cases or cases where a person was found innocent or there was no civil liability, including cases where orders or charges are reopened, vacated, set aside or overturned on appeal.

Proponents of the bill say online access to court records creates an opportunity for employers, landlords and others to discriminate against individuals who were accused, but not convicted of any wrongdoing.

Critics say the bill is an insult to the public, and note that the information is publicly-available at the courthouse.

The bill would permit access to the records by judges, court officials, law enforcement officials, attorneys, accredited journalists and bill collectors.

Read more here.

New Jersey Supreme Court Makes City' Confidential Settlement Public

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that an out-of-court settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit is a public document. The Asbury Park Press and John Paff of the Open Government Advocacy Project made a request under the state's Open Public Records Act for the settlement document of a lawsuit brought against Monmouth County officials. The Board of Freeholders refused, citing a confidentiality agreement among all parties. The Court rejected those grounds.

Read more here.

Proposed Law Would Extend FOIA Reach to Private Prisons

Congress is considering proposed legislation to extend the Freedom of Information Act to private prisons that contract with government agencies. At present, the companies that run private prisons say they are not subject to FOIA because they are not public agencies.

Read more about H.R. 2450 here.

Connecticut Considers Restricting Inmate Access to Open Records Laws

Connecticut may restrict prison inmates from using open records laws to get personal information to harass or threaten their guards, prosecutors, or other inmates. Washington, Arkansas, Michigan, Virginia, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Alabama, Georgia and Arizona have laws that limit or block inmate access to state open-records laws.

Connecticut prison guards are concerned about the requests of Richard Stevenson, who is serving an 86-year sentence for sexual assault and who is seeking off-duty arrest records for more than 100 guards.

Read more here.

Mississippi Student Faces Costly Hurdles in Public Records Assignment

A journalism student at the University of Mississippi learned how hard and expensive it can be to obtain public records.

The senior attempted to obtain two city budgets from Oxford, Mississippi, but the fees estimates changed from week to week, ranging from $30 to $96.

Click here to read how city officials admitted to charging more for records to slow down the process when the city is "inundated" with requests. Another city official says it receives "about six" requests per year.

Washington Post and Obama Disagree Regarding Administration's Open Government Track Record

The Washington Post reports that 319 lawsuits were filed under the Freedom of Information Act during Obama's tenure in the White House so far, and plaintiffs complain that little has changed since the Bush administration in terms of openness, despite Obama's promise that his administration would be the most open in history. The paper reports that 278 records suits were filed in 2007 and 298 in 2008.

But the White House responded, contradicting the report and saying that 22 fewer FOIA cases were filed in 2009 than 2008, and the Department of Justice has granted 13% more FOIA requests in 2009 than it did during the Bush administration.

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Washington Referendum 71 Petition Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear Doe v. Reed, the case to determine whether the names of Washington voters who signed a ballot petition for Referendum 71 can be made public. The referendum sought to overturn expanded rights for same-sex couples, and supporters of gay rights filed a public records request for the names of those who signed the petition. Referendum sponsors objected, saying the signers would be harassed.

Meanwhile a Washington state legislative committee is considering competing bills over the dispute. One would provide an exemption to the state's Public Records Act for the names and addresses on initiative or referendum petitions; the other would declare them public records.

Read more here.

Virginia Bill Would Add Another FOIA Exemption

A bill pending in the Virginia General Assembly seeks to exempt all records generated by campus threat assessment teams from the state's Freedom of Information Act.

The University of Virginia supports the legislation, saying it would allow teams to discuss potential threats to campus safety openly and would allow campus mental health providers and law enforcement officials to share confidential information.

Open government advocates disagree, cautioning the measure would make it more difficult to hold public officials accountable and identify any gaps in the campus security system if an incident were to occur.

Read more about the proposed bill here.

SEC Treated AIG Bailout Document Like a Matter of National Security

Emails turned over by the New York Federal Reserve to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform reveal that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission originally treated the New York Fed's request to keep secret details of the American International Group (AIG) bailout like a request to protect matters of national security.

Reuters reports that the New York Fed was only comfortable with AIG submitting a bailout-related document tot he SEC after it received assurances that "special security procedures" would be used to handle the document. The SEC also agreed that only two SEC employees would review the document and it would be kept in a locked safe.

For more on the protective measures of the AIG bailout details, click here.

Testing Illinois Localities on FOIA Compliance

The Herald-News did an interesting test of state and local government response times to new Illinois FOIA laws, which took effect January 1. The news organization sent FOIA requests to more than 100 local towns, school districts and counties, seeking information on where taxpayer money is being spent.

Check out the results here and an interactive feature here.

Alaska Judge Rules in Favor of Palin; State Business May Be Conducted through Private Email Accounts

An Alaska judge ruled in favor of former Gov. Sarah Palin in a lawsuit that urged that Palin and the governor's office had a responsibility to save email messages related to state business, even if they were sent through private email accounts.

In the ruling, Judge Patrick J. McKay of Anchorage Superior Court writes that, "The language in our case is clear — the Legislature simply chose to give state agencies some discretion in determining which e-mails are worthy of preservation and which are not." McKay noted that the statutes as currently written allow Alaska's state business to be conducted through private email accounts.

Read more here.

Delaware House Considers Setting a 10-Day Compliance Deadline for State FOIA Requests

Delaware Online reports that a Delaware House committee has approved a bill giving public agencies 10 days to respond to public records requests as a way to help correct existing FOIA law in Delaware that does not set a compliance deadline for FOIA requests.

The bill will be considered by the full Delaware House.

Click here for more information.

Short Documentary Film Traces First Year of Obama's Open Government Initiative

Check out this video from Delib. It's a short documentary about the first year since Obama's Open Government memorandum and features interviews with such insiders as Beth Noveck, Tim O'Reilly, and Jeffrey Levy, among others.

Proposed Law Could Limit Public Information in Mississippi

A Mississippi state representative is proposing a bill to ban businesses and government agencies from sharing personal information about employees, including their work telephone numbers or email addresses, a move that could make Mississippi less responsive to the public.

Read more about House Bill 691 here.

Illinois Police Officer Fell Asleep, Crashing Car Into Home's Foyer

Records released pursuant to a FOIA request reveal that a Wheaton, Illinois police officer fell asleep at the wheel of her squad car in September, causing her to crash the car through the front door of a house at 4 a.m.

Although no one was injured in the accident, the records show the officer said she fell asleep, but woke upon impact and believed she hit the gas pedal, accelerating through the front door.

The unnamed officer faces a possible suspension and disciplinary hearing after the city determines how much it will cost to repair the home. The officer's identity was redacted from records because of a clause in the contract between the union and the department.

Read more here.

Records of Alleged Sexual Assaults by a Former NC Police Officer Ordered to be Released

A Mecklenburg, NC judge has ordered the release of all 911 tapes and police radio communications associated with former Officer Marcus Jackson, who was arrested and fired after several women accused him of sexually assaulting them during traffic stops.

Superior Court Judge Richard Boner ruled the recordings are public records subject to disclosure, and did not find that the release of the recordings would jeopardize the state's prosecution of the former police officer or his right to a fair trial.

For more information, click here.

Federal Agency Datasets Now Available; Interactive Transparency Tracker Marks Progress

Federal agencies have posted nearly 300 new sets of raw data online as part of the Open Government Directive.

Click here for ProPublica's interactive chart, the Transparency Tracker, which provides an independent assessment of the federal agencies' efforts toward more open governmental transparency