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accountability

State Department still says cables WikiLeaks released last year are classified

donal brown December 8, 2011

The Obama administration is still insisting that cables WikiLeaks released last year are classified even though the cables were released by the State Department in compliance with a Freedom of Information Act request. The classified information concerned targeted killings, detention at Guantanamo, torture and rendition. -db From a commentary for the American Civil Liberties Union, December 7, 2011, by Nathan Freed Wessler and Anna Estevao. Full story  

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Call it the Not-so-public Utilities Commission

FAC November 29, 2011

If you’re worried about natural gas pipelines running near your home or business, prepare for a long battle to get key information from California’s Public Utilities Commission. Under a 60-year-old law, vast numbers of documents — including regulatory reports and safety studies — are secret, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. What’s more, PG&E often has the last word on what the public will be able to see. A Chronicle survey shows that most states routinely

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Opinion: Los Angeles schools errs in keeping teacher ratings from public

donal brown November 28, 2011

The Los Angeles Unified School District is thwarting the public’s right to know how teachers rated in value-added evaluations saying that the disclosures would be “embarrassing and painful” to teachers. Parents have the right to know how students are faring under their teachers argues Jim Newton in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. -db From an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, November 28, 2011, by Jim Newton. Full story

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Opinion: WikiLeaks may die out but seminal idea will endure

donal brown November 11, 2011

WikiLeaks seems all the more vulnerable as the founder, Julian Assange, is likely to be extradited from Britain to Sweden on charges of sexual misconduct. But even if WikiLeaks falls, the idea of a transnational organization gathering and disseminating information while evading the grasp of governments, seems likely to survive, writes David Carr in The New York Times. Notwithstanding, Carr says, for various reasons document drops of the scope of the U.S. classified war documents from

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Top judge in Los Angeles juvenile court orders open court for child decency hearings

donal brown November 11, 2011

The presiding judge of the Los Angeles Juvenile Court plans to open court hearings to the public by the end of the month in an attempt to bolster public confidence by improving accountability and transparency. The court deals with child abuse and neglect and foster care placement. Many social workers oppose the plan out of concerns for the privacy and the children. The proceedings would be presumed open unless someone objects or a judge decides

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