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February 2008 - Posts

Friday, February 29, 2008 11:44 AM

Photographers object to MLB credential terms

The National Press Photographers Association is torqued at new requirements for getting credentials to shoot Major League Baseball games and practices. The vague and arbitrary guidelines allow the MLB to deny credentials to organizations it doesn't like,
posted by DavidCuillier | 3 Comments
Friday, February 29, 2008 11:28 AM

Arkansas attorney general says fire department test scores can be public

The Arkansas attorney general released an opinion this week saying that copies of examinations and test scores for fire department applicants are public records in some circumstances. If there is a compelling public interest this type of information needs
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:26 AM

Illinois school district denies request for electronic phone bill

The New Lenox School District in Illinois denied a newspaper's request to see phone records, saying they haven't looked at the detailed list posted online at AT&T's Web site, and therefore the district does not possess the records and doesn't have
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Friday, February 22, 2008 10:59 PM

Utah Legislature kills bill that would have concealed police disciplinary records

As reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, the stat Senate Government Operations Committee tabled a bill that would have hid police disciplinary records from public view. Even Sen. Chris Buttars, the bill's sponsor, voted against the bill, saying that the
posted by DonaldMeyers | 0 Comments
Friday, February 22, 2008 1:26 AM

West Virgina auditor makes state worker salaries more accessible

The state auditor in West Virginia is making it easier for citizens to find out 65,000 state worker salaries by an online search menu that allows retrieval by name or department. Last year, the first year the salaries were posted online, the
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Friday, February 22, 2008 1:21 AM

Journalists and police haggle over incident report accident in Mississippi

Legislation in Mississippi would make public more information from criminal incidents without jeapardizing investigations, and penalize agencies that illegally deny records with fines of $25 for each day access is denied. Journalists and police are trying
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Friday, February 22, 2008 1:14 AM

Northern California SPJ chapter honors access champion

The Northern California SPJ chapter honored reporter Thomas Peele with the James Madison FOI Award for championing access to public records. He fought for mayoral e-mails and helped make government salary data public. See story.
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Friday, February 15, 2008 11:31 AM

Georgia House Speaker's divorce kept mum

Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson divorced his wife with a judge in private and got the records sealed. See story.
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Friday, February 15, 2008 11:26 AM

NPR's "On the Media" talks about Bush FOIA end run

Tucked away into President Bush's 2009 budget was language that eliminates the FOIA ombudsman. The newly-created position was at the heart of legislation that Bush recently signed into law, and was intended to expedite government's response to Freedom
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Thursday, February 14, 2008 3:53 PM

Utah lawmakers want to close police disciplinary records

Used with permission from the Salt Lake Tribune  The state's largest police department and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker are backing a controversial bill that would severely limit public access to the disciplinary records of police officers.
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 9:32 PM

Arizona sheriff loses public records battle - again

Twice in a week the Maricopa County sheriff  in Arizona lost public records cases, costing taxpayers even more money because of his lack of willingness to follow the law. A superior court judge awarded $25,000 to the Tucson Citizen for Sheriff Joe
posted by DavidCuillier | 1 Comments
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 9:22 PM

Pennsylvania open records bill advances to governor's desk

Pennsylvania's House and Senate approved an open records reform bill and now it goes to the governor for signing. See information at the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition.
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 9:11 PM

Illinois legislation would make records available in requested format

A bill proposed in the Illinois Legislature (HB 4270) would require government agencies to provide a record in any form or format requested if readily accessible in that form or format and make reasonable efforts to maintain records in a format that is
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:38 AM

Utah courts considering rule to restrict photographers.

Utah's court system is soliciting comment on new rules governing media in the courtroom. While some elements of rule 4-401 are good, such as allowing the media to copy the audio and video feeds from the courtroom, there is one poison-pill provision. It
posted by DonaldMeyers | 0 Comments
Friday, February 08, 2008 6:24 PM

Michigan sheriff mad at newspaper so he punishes through public records law

A Michigan sheriff is mad at The Argus-Press newspaper for publishing a story he didn't want published, so he told the paper he would provide press releases only if a formal written public records request is filed. That allows him to drag his heals for
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Friday, February 08, 2008 2:20 PM

Former SPJ FOI committee chair Chris Clark new chairholder for First Amendment studies

Retired broadcast journalist Chris Clark, and former SPJ FOI committee chair, has been named chairholder of Middle Tennessee State University's John Seigenthaler chair of excellence in First Amendment studies. For more information, see announcement on
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Friday, February 08, 2008 11:33 AM

South Dakota open records bill advances

A bill in South Dakota that would strengthen the open records law advanced through a Senate committee this week (see story). While there's no guarantee it will make it through, it's another good sign this year that efforts in legislatures nationwide
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Friday, February 08, 2008 11:01 AM

Georgia republican champions access because of first-hand struggles

Georgia republican state legislator Jill Chambers has been so annoyed at getting the run-around when getting public records that she's looking to push for improvements to the state open records law. We're seeing this more and more, where city council
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Thursday, February 07, 2008 3:22 PM

Indiana University adopts policy that public events are on the record

News flash: It's OK for journalists to take notes at public events. At least that's news to officials at Indiana University who just adopted a policy allowing such a thing. That wasn't always the case. On Jan. 21, a former Bush administration adviser
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Wednesday, February 06, 2008 6:53 PM

South Carolina legislators considering making concealed weapons permits secret

A Senate panel in South Carolina agreed to make concealed weapons permits secret. The decision was in reaction to a Virginia newspaper that published permit data online. Virginia legislators are on the way toward closing the records there too, also in
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Wednesday, February 06, 2008 10:32 AM

Private universities continue to keep serious crimes secret

While eight states (California, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia) have specific legislation forcing private universities to make campus crime information public, many states still allow students at
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Monday, February 04, 2008 9:09 PM

President's budget deletes FOIA ombudsman

President Bush's budget leaves out funding for the newly approved FOIA ombudsman that was approved in the OPEN Government Act last month. Access proponents had predicted that the president would shift the new position, which would mediate disputes between
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Monday, February 04, 2008 7:03 PM

Secret meeting shenanigans lead to proposed legislation in Washington state

Proposed legislation in Washington state would require closed executive sessions to be recorded and available for a judge to review if someone alleges violations to the state open meetings law. The legislation was prompted after the outgoing Port of Seattle
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Monday, February 04, 2008 6:55 PM

Obama wants off-the-record interviews on campaign trail

Presidential candidate Barack Obama apparently doesn't want interviews on flights during the campaign trail to be on the record, according to a story at politico.com. Hillary Clinton earlier had wanted off-the-record discussions with the press but objections
posted by DavidCuillier | 1 Comments