FOIA requesters

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has written to the U.S. Marshals Service asking it to clarify its position on the release of federal booking photographs under the federal Freedom of Information Act. Specifically, the Reporters Committee inquired into future access policies within the geographic bounds of the Sixth Circuit where a federal appeals court ruled in 1996 that these mug shots are public documents. The letter was co-signed by 21 leading news media companies and organizations.

The board of directors of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation of the Society of Professional Journalists has approved a grant to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to fund a journalists’ guide to crafting and filing federal Freedom of Information Act appeals.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a challenge to a Virginia statute that limits access to state and local public records to Virginia residents.

Joined by 21 news media companies and journalism organizations, the Reporters Committee brief argues the statute is unconstitutional because it discriminates between Virginia citizens and everybody else, creating a substantial burden on the rights of journalists.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press lauded today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in another decision favorable to open government, this time ruling that the Navy’s use of a Freedom of Information Act exemption for records regarding internal agency personnel rules and practices was improperly invoked to deny the release of maps and charts.