State open government
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NEWS MEDIA UPDATE U.S. Supreme Court · April 28, 2010 · State open government
Justices skeptical of referendum signature secrecy
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared skeptical of the argument that signatures on a referendum to repeal Washington state's domestic partnership law should be kept private.
The court heard the case Doe v. Reed, which arose when same-sex marriage opponents who sponsored the referendum said the names of petition signers should not be released under the state's Public Records Act for fear of ensuing intimidation or harassment. Under Washington law, the names of individuals who sign initiatives or petitions seeking to adopt or revoke a law become public records.
James Bopp, the attorneys for Protect Marriage Washington and the anonymous petitioners in the case, asked the court to find that the First Amendment prevents the names of petition signatories from becoming public. Bopp argued that because petition signatories may suffer intimidation, harassment, and economic boycotts, people would be less likely to participate and it would have a "chilling effect" on political speech.
Several justices appeared unsympathetic to portions of Bopp's . . . [more]
— Mara Zimmerman, 5:50 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK California · April 26, 2010 · State open government
Independent journalist ejected from state 'advisory' meeting
An independent journalist was forcibly removed from the California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative meeting after he asked a question about the Initiative’s position on ocean industrialization, the First Amendment Coalition reported.
David Gurney was removed by security from the Fort Bragg, Calif. meeting, during which officials were designating “Marine Protected Areas.” He had previously attempted to . . . [more]
— Cristina Abello, 6:24 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK Louisiana · April 26, 2010 · State open government
Louisiana state senator wants more transparent governor's office
The state law that controls the applicability of public-records laws to the Louisiana governor's office has been amended several times in the past few years and some state senators say it's moving in the wrong direction, The (Baton Rouge) Advocate reported.
Gov. Bobby Jindal touts the 2008 and 2009 amendments as proof his office is progressing towards openness, but state Sen. Robert Adley is unconvinced. He argues the amendments actually allow for a broader exemption than before because they exempt . . . [more]
— Christine Beckett, 6:00 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Michigan · April 14, 2010 · State open government
Mich. state health department reverses denial of H1N1 records
Michigan’s state health department released documents Wednesday that contained information outlining how funds for H1N1 prevention and treatment programs were used, The Michigan Messenger reported.
The disclosure comes after a coalition of open government advocates appealed the Michigan Department of Community Health’s previous refusal to fulfill the Messenger’s March open records request for the documents, claiming doing so would . . . [more]
— Nadia Tamez-Robledo, 4:40 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK California · April 13, 2010 · State open government
California state senator says school tried to hide Palin's contract
A California lawmaker and students at a state university said they would hand over documents to the state attorney general on Tuesday that would prove the school tried to destroy evidence of the speaking fee it agreed to pay former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for an upcoming anniversary gala, California Watch and The Los Angeles Times reported.
State Sen. Leland Yee was contacted last . . . [more]
— Nadia Tamez-Robledo, 5:51 pm · View reader comments (4)
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE New York · April 9, 2010 · State open government
ProPublica launches project to file out-of-state records requests
Nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica has launched a project that asks volunteers in five states that prohibit out-of-state public-records requests to help the media outlet gain access to documents.
New York-based ProPublica is asking citizens of Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Georgia and Delaware to sign up for its Reporting Network Doc Squad and lend a hand with open-records requests to those state governments.
“We frequently reach out to our readers for assistance with our reporting,” said Amanda Michel, editor of distributed reporting. “We think this is one great example of how the press and public can work together on something for the public good.”
The idea for the Doc Squad came about when reporter Michael Grabell was informed that his records request for documents from Tennessee had been denied because he is an out-of-state resident. He and Michel, who has organized citizen input for other projects, decided to put out the call for assistance soon afterward.
“This fit in perfectly this new model of . . . [more]
— Nadia Tamez-Robledo, 3:07 pm · View reader comments (3)
QUICKLINK South Carolina · April 6, 2010 · State open government
Investigation prompts municipalities to post court data online
A media investigation led to three South Carolina cities and towns posting court data online, The (Charleston) Post and Courier reported.
The investigation found that three of the region's largest municipalities, which handle more than 100,000 cases a year, were not posting data on their Web sites. The investigation arose when a newspaper filed an open records request for court data dating back to Jan. 2007 and all three jurisdictions responded with incomplete information.
The . . . [more]
— Curry Andrews, 5:23 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Mississippi · March 9, 2010 · State open government
Missississippi House alters, passes revision to open meetings law
The director of Mississippi's ethics commission told The Associated Press that a revision to the state's open meetings law passed by the House on Thursday had been watered down from its original version.
The legislation was approved 97-22 after a provision that established a formal process for nullifying any decision made in violation of open meetings laws was removed. An amendment that mirrors one passed by the state Senate, which would require individual violators to pay fines and not . . . [more]
— Curry Andrews, 5:57 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Washington · February 25, 2010 · State open government
Washington city settles with local paper in open meetings suit
The City of Tacoma has settled out of court with a Washington newspaper after the city was accused of violating the state's open meetings laws, The News Tribune reported.
The City of Tacoma recently paid The News Tribune $7,500 for attorney's fees after it allegedly appointed two City Council members in closed meetings. The payment marked the end of the lawsuit.
— Curry Andrews, 6:10 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Texas · February 3, 2010 · State open government
Texas attorney general says no constitutional rights for cities
Four Texas cities that filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the state's open meetings law infringes on their right to free speech must withdraw as plaintiffs because government agencies cannot have their First Amendment rights violated, the state attorney general argued yesterday, according to the Associated Press.
Fifteen individual elected officials and the cities of Pfugerville, Rockport, Alpine and Wichita Falls filed suit against the State of . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 7:19 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK New Hampshire · February 1, 2010 · State open government
New Hampshire Supreme Court extends Right-to-Know Law
The New Hampshire Supreme Court on Friday unanimously supported the state's Right-to-Know Law and ordered a private organization that represents public agencies to release its salary information, The Associated Press reported.
A firefighters' union had asked an organization that represents schools and municipalities to release its salary information so it could track the way the organization uses tax-dollars to pay for health insurance. The umbrella organization, Local Government Center, Inc., refused, . . . [more]
— Curry Andrews, 5:06 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Wyoming · January 12, 2010 · State open government
Wyoming high court sides with newspaper in open meetings suit
The Wyoming Supreme Court sided with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle last week in a lawsuit over whether a building code appeals board improperly held a secret meeting to decide whether to issue demolition permits for six historic homes, The Associated Press reported.
Cheyenne Newspapers, Inc., the parent company of the Eagle, sued the Cheyenne Building Code Board of Appeals in 2008 asking the court to block the board from making a decision before public deliberations on the matter was open to public . . . [more]
— Amanda Becker, 5:24 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Florida · January 8, 2010 · State open government
Florida lawmakers to clarify what groups subject to Sunshine Law
Florida lawmakers are planning to author a bill that will clarify which organizations receiving both public and private financing are subject to the state's freedom of information laws, Panama City's News Herald reported.
The confusion over which groups are subject to Flordia's Sunshine Law began when the News Herald published a series of articles on Florida’s Great Northwest, an economic development organization that receives 60 percent of its funding from the government but claims it is . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 5:22 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Texas · December 14, 2009 · State open government
Texas public officials file suit to overturn open meetings law
Public officials throughout the state of Texas filed a lawsuit Monday to overturn the state's open meetings law, claiming the provision that bars officials from meeting in secret violates their right to free speech.
More than 20 elected officials and a dozen cities across the state, including Pflugerville, Rockport, and Alpine, have signed onto the lawsuit against the State of Texas and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, which was filed in federal court today . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 5:17 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK Georgia · December 11, 2009 · State open government
Georgia's House Republican caucus votes to kick out press
Republican legislators in Georgia voted today in a secret ballot to close the doors and keep the press out of an open caucus meeting.
Atlanta's NBC affiliate reported that the meeting was called to discuss filling former Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson's position. Richardson resigned after news of "an affair with a lobbyist, an attempted suicide, and an ex-wife’s retribution," . . . [more]
— Ansley Schrimpf, 5:44 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK Texas · December 4, 2009 · State open government
Texas Municipal League says no jail for open meetings law violations
The Texas Municipal League, the lobbying arm of the state's cities, has endorsed a proposal to remove jail time from the list of punishments that can follow violations of Texas' Open Meetings Act, the Waco Tribune reported.
The resolution, which the league may pursue when it lobbies during the next legislative session, follows a lawsuit filed by dozens of Texas cities that challenges the state’s Open . . . [more]
— Amanda Becker, 3:43 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Texas · November 23, 2009 · State open government
More Texas public officials will sue to conduct business in secret
Yet another Texas municipality has signed onto a lawsuit that challenges the state’s Open Meetings Act and seeks to do away with criminal sanctions for elected officials who conduct public business behind closed doors.
The city of Rockport voted Nov. 3 to join at least a dozen other cities, including Pflugerville and Alpine, in the suit expected to be filed before the first of the year.
The Texas public officials are arguing that the state's open meetings law, which prevents a quorum of government officials . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 5:21 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Washington · November 17, 2009 · State open government
Washington city refuses to settle suit over e-mail messages
A Washington city rejected a local open government activist's offer last week to settle a public records suit in which a state appeals court has ordered it to pay what could amount to $110,000 in legal fees, The Daily Herald reported.
The Monroe City Council refused Meredith Mechling's offer to settle a suit over e-mail messages she requested in 2006 that two state courts ordered the city hand over. Mechling wanted $192,950 to cover both her legal fees and public . . . [more]
— Ansley Schrimpf, 4:13 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Wisconsin · November 17, 2009 · State open government
Wisconsin prison hands over grenade video, settles suit
Wisconsin prison officials have released video footage of a guard detonating a grenade typically used for outdoor crowd control in the cell of an individual prisoner after the Associated Press sued to obtain a copy of the footage, the news agency reported.
The release effectively settles the lawsuit, which the AP filed last month after the Department of Corrections refused to hand over a video that showed a guard throwing a nonlethal stinger grenade into the prisoner's cell. In addition, the department has also agreed to pay $5,000 in attorney fees that the AP would have been entitled to if it had won its case in court, said Robert Dreps, an attorney at Godfrey & Kahn who represented the AP.
The AP requested the video under Wisconsin's freedom of information laws after the department settled a $49,000 lawsuit with the 135-pound inmate, Raynard Jackson, who claimed the use of the grenade constituted excessive force and caused hearing loss.
The department initially denied the request for . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 4:02 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK Michigan · November 17, 2009 · State open government
State police want nearly $7 million to fulfill FOIA request
The Michigan Department of State Police is charging the Mackinac Center for Public Policy nearly $7 million to fulfill its FOIA request for information on how the state has used homeland security grant money since 2002, the nonpartisan research group reported.
A communications specialist at the center requested information after the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general released a report that detailed multiple implementation problems in how $129 million in security grants was spent in seven Michigan . . . [more]
— Kirk Davis, 2:19 pm · View reader comments (2)
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