Search

Categories

Total Results

No Record Found

View All Results
DONATE

donal brown

California: San Carlos closed session inspires allegation of illegal action

donal brown April 4, 2011

San Carlos is denying that they committed an open meeting violation when they conducted a closed session to appoint the mayor and a councilman to represent the city in a mediation with an adjoining city. Instead of listing the matter on the closed meeting agenda, the city simply listed “anticipated litigation” which gave the council a right to meet privately. An attorney hired by the city said the term “anticipated litigation” was not intended to

Read More »

Federal court administration justifies banning smart phones from courts

donal brown April 4, 2011

Smartphones could be used to provide instantaneous online updates of court proceedings but the federal court administration sees dangers in allowing smartphones in court buildings. The Administrative Office of the Courts want to ban smartphones not just because they could conceal non-metallic bombs but also for the potential harm to court proceedings through secret recording. The office issued an 8-page memo on the topic saying, “Reasons above and beyond terrorism to restrict the devices from

Read More »

Sunlight Foundation says federal transparency programs in jeopardy

donal brown March 31, 2011

The Sunlight Foundation said in letter to Congress that proposed cuts to the Electronic Government Fund would cut Data.gov and other programs crucial to government transparency. In arguing against the cuts, the letter read, “These e-government initiatives help the government operate more effectively and efficiently, thereby saving taxpayer money and aiding oversight. They increase economic opportunities for small business. They also increase citizen knowledge of and involvement in the democratic process. Fully realized transparency would

Read More »

Opinion: Electronic Frontier Foundation finds political bias in processing of FOIA requests

donal brown March 31, 2011

The House Oversight Committee is investigating Freedom of Information Act requests processed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF)  complained last October that the department was targeting certain requesters which included journalists and activist groups for extra layers of review. EFF also says that the DHS not only failed to produce records on a timely basis but also withheld documents. -db From a commentary from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, March

Read More »

Project.org launched to track freedom of information lawsuits

donal brown March 31, 2011

A new website by Transactional Records Access Clearing (TRAC) house at Syracuse University will provide data about Freedom of Information Act requests. The website is considering whether to provide a way for users to describe how agencies arbitrarily denied their request. TRAC says as it stands now there are no penalties for violating FOIA so publicizing “egregious” denials may provide some incentive for compliance. -db From The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, March

Read More »