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Knight survey reveals Obama administration faltering in transparency initiative

donal brown March 14, 2011

The Knight Open Government Survey has revealed that a little over half of the federal agencies have made changes in their response to Freedom of Information Act requests, this after President Obama instructed agencies to “usher in anew era of open government.” Whereas in 2010 the Knight survey found that only 13 out of 90 federal agencies had improved their openness, the survey showed this year that the number had risen to 49, a significant

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California: Capristrano school board to rectify alleged open meeting violations

donal brown March 14, 2011

To forestall lawsuits alleging open meeting violations, the Capristrano Unified School District trustees will vote again on Wednesday to restore two days to the school calendar and part of the salary increase for teachers. School district watchdogs contended that a recent vote on these issues in closed session was not clearly delineated on an agenda and reported afterward. -db From the Rancho Santa Margarita Patch, March 14, 2011, by Penny Arévalo Full Story

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Download Sunshine Week Coast to Coast

FAC March 14, 2011

Sunshine Week 2011 has arrived and this year FAC has partnered with the NFOIC (National Freedom of Information Coalition) to provide a mobile version of their comprehensive Sunshine Week listings. Sunshine Week Coast to Coast, featured on FAC’s iPhone App, iOpen Gov, is  a guide to the events, resources, editorials, news and special features happening nationwide. The free app for iPhone, iPodTouch and the iPad, enhances the event listing with app tools that make it

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Government data a boon to consumers

FAC March 14, 2011

Transparency isn’t all about holding government accountable. As more and more information collected by government goes online, consumers are reaping a different benefit. Writing in the New York Times, Richard H. Thaler, a economics and behavioral science professor at the University of Chicago, describes the payoff: potentially life-saving access to product recalls, airline pricing, job-hunting information, real-time tracking of bus and train arrivals and more. Data, the Times observes, is not dull. Thaler’s discussion of

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The U.S. is alone among western democracies in protecting “hate speech.” Chalk it up to a healthy fear of government censorship.

FAC March 14, 2011

BY PETER SCHEER—An inebriated John Galliano, sitting in a Paris bar, unleashes an anti-semitic rant (“I love Hitler”) that is captured on a cellphone camera and posted on the internet. Within days the Dior designer is not only fired from his job, but is given a trial date to face criminal charges for his offensive remarks. In the same week, the U.S. Supreme Court extends First Amendment protection to the homophobic proclamations of a fringe

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