Privacy Act

The public may be able to more closely scrutinize the multi-billion dollar federal Medicare program after a judge last week lifted a 33-year-old injunction that barred access to the healthcare program's records.

A federal appeals court allowed a former Detroit prosecutor to continue investigating the identity of a source who leaked information about an internal ethics probe against him to a Pulitzer-Prize winning newspaper reporter. The decision, which was released Friday, overturns a district court’s ruling that threw out the case last year and now leaves a newspaper vulnerable to investigations eight years after a U.S. Department of Justice insider leaked information to the reporter.

The Office of Government Information Services issued its recommendations for policy changes to the federal Freedom of Information Act yesterday, more than a year after it submitted a draft version to the Office of Management and Budget in February 2011 for review.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that a plaintiff cannot collect damages for emotional distress for government violations of the federal Privacy Act.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday that with respect to agency records related to lead poisoning, only portions that do not have “personal identifying information” can be released under the Ohio Public Records Act.

The disclosure of a video showing a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officer accidentally shooting himself in the leg during a lecture to community youths does not violate the federal Privacy Act, a U.S. appeals court ruled Tuesday. The court also rejected the officer's claim for invasion of privacy under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday on whether a plaintiff who alleges emotional injuries but has no monetary loss can collect damages after the government intentionally releases personal information protected under the Privacy Act.

A federal court in Florida refused to order the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to withhold videos and photographs depicting a SeaWorld trainer’s death, explaining that it would not intervene before the agency reached a decision regarding the release of the materials.

A federal judge ended a lengthy legal battle that centered around a reporter's confidential sources yesterday when he dismissed a former federal prosecutor’s lawsuit against the Department of Justice.

The FBI will consult with Edward M. Kennedy's family before releasing its file on the deceased lawmaker to the public — a rarely invoked FBI accommodation, The Boston Globe reported.

Because deceased persons cannot claim privacy rights, media organizations began requesting to gain access to Kennedy’s 3000-page FBI file under the Freedom of Information Act after the Massachusetts senator passed away in August.