A new federal directive requires agencies to digitize management of electronic records including e-mails. The directive is aimed at improving transparency while cutting costs. -db From The FOIA Ombudsman, August 28, 2012, by Corinna Zarek. Full story
Q: I am trying to obtain public records at my university which are stored in electronic format. I have been told that I will be charged $.20 per page for the electronic record and, upon inquiring about this fee have been referred to the following policy by the California State University: Public Records Act? The records that I am trying to obtain are in ready-made format and used for analysis by the CSU on a
The Obama administration’s record number of prosecutions for leakers may not be attributed solely to their zeal for secret government but rather more to the ease with which the administration can catch leakers with better surveillance and the availability of electronic records. A journalist at the 14th annual National Freedom of Information Day conference said if he were a government employee with information on wrong doing, he would never use the telephone or e-mail to
Almost two years ago, Mike Harris’s son was thrown off his high school basketball team for posting a parody hip-hop video about the youth drug culture on YouTube. Harris wanted to find out how the District had arrived at their decision to oust his son from the team and requested all records documenting the incident. When the Northern California school district failed to provide everything he’d requested, Harris hired Davis attorney Paul Boylan to sue
San Jose is proposing a disclosure policy to make sure its public officials do not use such devices as iPhones and BlackBerrys to skirt open government laws. -DB San Jose Mercury News January 21, 2010 By John Woolfolk With iPhones and BlackBerrys becoming must-have accessories, San Jose is poised to approve a groundbreaking disclosure policy that would ensure elected leaders don’t use those personal devices to skirt public-records laws. Most cities have taken a position