Frustrated by delays and heavy redactions, the Los Angeles Times is suing for the release of records concerning the deaths of children under the supervision of the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services. -db From the Los Angeles Times, September 15, 2011, by Garrett Therolf. Full story
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, whose campaign for president has faulted Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for purported failure to open the workings of the Fed to public view, has “adopted policies that shroud his own office in a purposeful opaqueness that confounds prying reporters – or any member of the public questioning his policies,” the Houston Chronicle reports. Perry’s approach contrasts with another former Texas governor, George W. Bush, who revealed voluminous records of his
For its ambitious use of freedom of information laws to generate high impact news stories, the Associated Press has won the 2011 Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award. In a press release, the AP said it filed more than 1,000 public records requests in 2010 and 60 legal appeals of rejections. In 2009, the AP filed more than 1,500 requests and made 40 appeals. The award, which carries a $10,000 prize, is sponsored by the
The practice of withholding the names of police officers who use deadly force is coming under scrutiny from the American Civil Liberties Union, which says it might go to court to enforce the state’s public records act. On Monday a San Francisco officer shot and killed a 19-year-old man who allegedly fired at police in the city’s Bayview district. On July 3 a BART officer shot a 45-year-old man who allegedly threatened officers with a
A study conducted by The Hill of government responses to the Freedom of Information Act requests revealed no uniform pattern of response. The Hill filed FOIA request for over 70 federal agency FOIA logs and experienced wide variations in compliance. Some agencies sent logs with names but no affiliations. A few agencies complied in days, most in months. The Hill listed the best and worst agencies for FOIA response. -db From an analysis and commentary