FOIA in the news, January 6, 2012
20 contributors.
Contents |
[edit] Links
- Paid FOI internships with SPJ this summer! Apply by Jan. 16: spj.org/i-pullkilgore.
- Seattle PD sues attorney because he requested dash cam footage ow.ly/8kJ9W
- How can the city sue someone for requesting records?
- Anaheim says it was a "mistake" to order employees to delete unflattering e-mails ow.ly/8kJet
- Washington's checkbook now online ow.ly/8kJVs
- ow.ly/8kKhn
- Last yr. the NY Times sued the DOJ for not disclosing memo re. Anwar al-Awlaki's assassination bit.ly/xPpbax
- foiachat held at Mercury News yesterday for those in CA ow.ly/8kKHz
- Carrier IQ Releases Data as FBI Denies FOIA Request bit.ly/zYpjxu
- Exemptions up 33% in spite of #opengov promotion bit.ly/xYAyft
- Most Madison Police and Fire Commission meetings held at private law office in 2011: bit.ly/yl0RIE
- SunshineReview's state transparency laws is a good start bit.ly/zlyQfr
- NYT v DOJ [courthouse news service] bit.ly/wOUd7z
- Minnesota's open meeting policy bill via @richneumeister bit.ly/yb0V3v
[edit] Tips
- There's no legal authority for a city to preemptively sue a requester for money damages. Would like to see the court documents. I suspect the Seattle case is a 'declaratory judgment' action -- meaning you are seeking only legal clarification, not money.
- A Utah court said in '95 that 911 call tapes are public. No reason dash cams should be different.
- Exception exists for "ongoing investigation."
- As always with many foia laws, enforcement is the issue.
[edit] Questions
- What should I request from a police department?
- Training records of LEOs
- If there is a private support organization for a gov't entity, like a friends of the library, are they subject to FOIA laws?
- Depends on state law. Friends of library, doubtful. But if entity is set up by a govt agency using govt $, FOIA away.
[edit] Other
- Request for Rick Perry emails, status: TX AG agrees $2304 for elctronic records reasonable. 10 Biz days to appeal or pay.
