State open government
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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 · Comments: 0
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 (1)
QUICKLINK Florida · October 28, 2009 · State open government
NCAA releases documents in Florida State case
The NCAA today released Florida State University disciplinary records to comply with a court order after the Florida Supreme Court rejected its last-ditch effort to block their release.
The lower court's order required the NCAA to release the documents by 2 p.m. today. The organization had asked the state's high court for an emergency stay but was denied, the Associated Press reported. Florida State University . . . [more]
— Brooke Ericson, 6:40 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Florida · October 15, 2009 · State open government
NCAA appeals to high court as Florida State releases documents
Florida State University released a transcript that was the subject of a protracted public records dispute Wednesday as the National College Athletic Association made a last-ditch request to Florida Supreme Court to halt the disciplinary documents' release, The New York Times reported.
According to theTallahassee Democrat, the NCAA sought an emergency order that would have blocked the court-ordered release of two documents – a . . . [more]
— Ansley Schrimpf, 5:41 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE California · October 14, 2009 · State open government
Governor again vetoes open government bills
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed two bills this week that were designed to bring greater transparency and accountability to California's public colleges. This is the latest in a string of actions Schwarzenegger has taken against increased transparency since assuming the governor's office in 2003.
The first, S.B. 218, overwhelmingly passed the legislature and would have expanded California's public records law to include organizations that contract with the state's colleges. The second, S.B. 219, would have provided employees of the University of California system who report waste, fraud and abuse, with the same legal protections as other state employees.
“It would appear that his public commitment to transparency and accountability is only lip-service,” said Lillian Taiz, the president of the California Faculty Association, in a release by Sen. Leland Yee.
In 2004, Schwarzenegger . . . [more]
— Brooke Ericson, 5:53 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE California · October 14, 2009 · State open government
California county pays $500,000 in map data dispute
Santa Clara County must pay a nonprofit watchdog group $500,000 to cover its legal fees after a three-year dispute over whether the county could withhold or charge extremely high fees for electronic maps that were sought during a public records request, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
Government watchdogs say the payment of the California First Amendment Coalition's legal fees, which follows an appeals court order to disclose the map data, could be the largest payout awarded in a California records disclosure dispute to date.
“[The $500,000 judgment] sends a very, very clear message that if [governments] ignore their obligations under our open government laws, they better treat that as a real liability,” Peter Scheer, executive director of CFAC, told the Mercury News.
The California First Amendment Coalition sued Santa Clara in June 2006 after it failed to provide its global imaging system basemap in its . . . [more]
— Brooke Ericson, 5:16 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Florida · October 1, 2009 · State open government
Florida court orders NCAA to hand over records
A Florida appeals court upheld Florida’s open meetings law today and ordered the National Collegiate Athletic Association to hand over documents related to secret disciplinary proceedings against Florida State University.
FSU met with the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions behind closed doors on Oct. 28, 2008 to explain a self-reported 2007 rules violation. The NCAA issued its response to last year's meeting with the university on June 2. When media organizations made records requests, school officials denied them, citing a cyber confidentiality pact with the NCAA.
FSU officials told reporters that the school’s outside counsel entered a confidentiality agreement with the NCAA that prevented them releasing the documents, which the NCAA made available to FSU in a read-only format through a password-protected Web site.
Media outrage ensued, said Bob Gabordi, executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat, FSU’s hometown newspaper. He quoted his own June . . . [more]
— Ansley Schrimpf, 5:47 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Oklahoma · October 1, 2009 · State open government
Eight officials charged with violating Oklahoma's open meetings law
Eight county officials in Oklahoma have been charged with 38 violations of the state's Open Meetings Act, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
Five members of the Okmulgee County Criminal Trust Authority and the county's sheriff, police chief and commissioner are charged with taking unauthorized votes, not recording votes and failing to give notice of action taken, among other misdemeanor violations of Oklahoma's Open Meetings Act.
Oklahoma is one of a handful of states that attaches criminal . . . [more]
— Kirk Davis, 5:30 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Florida · September 30, 2009 · State open government
Nonprofit receives additional $750,000 in legal fees
A Florida city must pay approximately $750,000 in additional legal fees to government transparency advocates, a Florida judge ruled last week.
Last March, the nonprofit group Citizens for Sunshine and a citizen activist were awarded attorney's fees in a lawsuit against the City of Venice where they exposed violations of the state's open records and open meetings laws. The parties settled the suit, which exposed the city's failure to maintain and archive city e-mail accounts and led to a change in its policy and practice. Friday's ruling brings the total fee award to $1.4 million, The Associated Press reported.
The City of Venice had attacked the fees requested by Anthony Lorenzo and Citizens for Sunshine asserting that their attorneys "padded their billings," "prolonged litigation" and billed multiple lawyers for identical work.
In his order granting the fees to Lorenzo and Citizens for Sunshine, Sarasota County Judge Robert Bennett generally rejected . . . [more]
— Kirk Davis, 6:11 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK Wisconsin · September 21, 2009 · State open government
Wisconsin's open records law applies to city's legal bills
The city of Green Bay must release its legal bills to the public, a Wisconsin judge ruled Friday.
The Green Bay Press-Gazette asked Green Bay and 24 additional Brown County municipalities for legal invoices last May for a June 7 story about how Brown County had spent $2.4 million on outside-counsel legal fees in 2008. The city denied the paper's request and said the records were protected by attorney-client privilege, the Press-Gazette . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 4:07 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Pennsylvania · September 18, 2009 · State open government
Pennsylvania inundated with records requests, lawsuits
A backlog of requests to mediate public records disputes has accumulated since Pennsylvania's new public records law took effect at the beginning of this year, the Philadelphia Daily News reports.
The state's Office of Open Records, which was established to mediate public records disputes, has been inundated with more than 4,500 e-mail and phone requests over the last eight months from individuals seeking public records and government agencies wanting to . . . [more]
— Kirk Davis, 4:17 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Massachusetts · September 16, 2009 · State open government
Mayor may have violated state public record laws
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino was ordered to turn over the computer and software of a senior aide after his office provided only 18 e-mail messages from the aide over a six-month period in response to a request from the Boston Globe, the newspaper reported.
The deletions were discovered when two mayoral challengers independently produced hundreds of e-mail messages sent or received by aide Michael Kineavy from Oct. 1, . . . [more]
— Brooke Ericson, 5:40 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Kentucky · September 15, 2009 · State open government
Budgetary constraints do not excuse open records delay
Staff shortages and budgetary constraints do not excuse a failure to timely comply with Kentucky's Open Records Act, the state's attorney general ruled on Aug. 25.
The case began when Kentucky New Era reporter Sarah Hogsed requested restaurant health reports for 2008 and 2009 from the Pennyrile District Health Department and encountered a 21-day delay. Under the law, the government has only three days to respond to a request.
Public Health Director James M. Tolley . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 4:52 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Hawaii · July 28, 2009 · State open government
Hawaii County Council must fix meetings violation before acting
The Hawaii County Council will be legally barred from taking official government actions if it does not remedy an open meeting violation by Aug. 5, The Associated Press reported Monday.
In a lawsuit brought by West Hawaii Today, Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra found that a quorum of the council violated the state's Sunshine Law by holding private talks about a plan to reorganize itself. Ibarra said a temporary restraining order was required to prevent irreparable harm to the public's interest, according to the . . . [more]
— Lucas Tanglen, 5:08 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Florida · June 30, 2009 · State open government
Florida governor vetoes exemptions to public records law
Florida Governor Charlie Crist last week barred two new exemptions from being added to the state's public records law when he vetoed a pair of bills approved by state lawmakers.
The first would have shielded from public disclosure any "proprietary business information" the Department of Management received from a telecommunications or broadband company. According to The Associated Press, Crist found the term "proprietary business information" too broad to define an exemption, but he encouraged lawmakers to rewrite the bill next year.
The First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee opposed the bill and tried to get it narrowed during the legislative session. But the group did not recommend the governor veto the measure.
"That definition is so broad you could drive a truck through it," said Barbara Peterson, the First Amendment Foundation's president. "We found [the bill] very problematic and certainly are very pleased that he did veto it."
The First Amendment Foundation did recommend Crist block the other bill, which he also . . . [more]
— Caitlin Dickson, 5:54 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Louisiana · June 26, 2009 · State open government
Louisiana records bill headed to governor's desk
A bill that would alter access to the Louisiana governor's official records received final approval from the state Senate Monday, and is on its way to the governor's desk.
The public records law now exempts from disclosure all but the financial records the governor's office maintains. Under the proposed change, the only exempt records would be those pertaining to the governor's security, schedule, communications among staff and "executive deliberations and work product."
The bill also allows the governor to withhold for six months any records of "pre-decisional advice and recommendations" provided by advisers or other agencies on budget matters. Gov. Bobby Jindal has been an active supporter of the bill.
Critics contend the measure purports to narrow the governor's exemption but actually takes more items out of the public domain.
Carl Redman, executive editor of the Baton Rouge Advocate, called the measure "horribly convoluted." He said the "vague" definition of documents now up for exemption will allow for more . . . [more]
— Caitlin Dickson, 5:52 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Louisiana · June 23, 2009 · State open government
Louisiana House passes records bill
The Louisiana Senate is on deck again to vote on language the House approved for a bill that would publicize more information from the governor's office but at the same time keep some currently public budget records secret for six months, according to The Associated Press.
Despite the efforts of transparency advocates to place the governor's office more squarely under the public records law, The Times-Picayune says, . . . [more]
— Caitlin Dickson, 6:02 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Tennessee · June 18, 2009 · State open government
Bill to seal gun permits falls short in Tennessee
Open government advocates in Tennessee have narrowly succeeded in blocking passage of a measure that would have barred public access to gun permits, according to The Associated Press.
Frank Gibson, the executive director of the Coalition for Open Government in Tennessee, told the Reporters Committee earlier this year he thought it would be difficult to stop the measure. But in an interview Thursday he said key lawmakers in the Senate were able to turn the focus of the debate, just before the measure fell short by three votes, away from concerns about gun owners' privacy rights and toward the open government implications.
The legislators first voted down an amendment Gibson's group backed, which would have sealed the statewide permit database yet left the actual permits open on the local level. But in the process of discussing that amendment, he said, the lawmakers "shifted the discussion from gun rights to government records." By the time the vote was tallied on the bill sealing all permit data, he . . . [more]
— Caitlin Dickson, 5:55 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Virginia · June 4, 2009 · State open government
Posting of Social Security numbers upheld, mostly
A Virginia woman can continue posting public officials' Social Security numbers on her Web site, in her protest against what she sees as lax personal privacy standards for public records, but she may not publish the Social Security numbers of private citizens, a federal judge ruled this week.
B.J. Ostergren had told the court she did not want to include everyday people in her online campaign against the inclusion of Social Security numbers in public court filings. She was represented in court by the ACLU of Virginia; legal director Rebecca Glenberg said Ostergren is satisfied with the balance of First Amendment and public interests the judge struck.
Ostergren made a name for herself with her Web site, thevirginiawatchdog.com, where she posted public records that included the Social Security numbers of local lawmakers and other prominent officials. Her aim was to show that private identifying information is accessible to would-be identity thieves. She filed suit about a year ago over a provision in Virginia's . . . [more]
— Kathleen Cullinan, 5:26 pm · View reader comments (1)
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