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Justice Department proposes change to Freedom of Information Act that facilitates hiding records

donal brown October 25, 2011

The Justice Department has proposed a rule change for the FOIA to allow government agencies to deny that records do not exist when they do. As it stands now the government can withhold information and issue a Glomar denial that says they neither confirm nor deny the records exist. Open government advocates say that the rule change would deliver a blow to transparency in that with the proposed rule, those seeking information would be inclined

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Federal appeals decision busts privacy exemption for Freedom of Information Act requests

donal brown September 15, 2011

The Internet era has eroded a Supreme Court decision (Department of Justice v. Reporters’ Committee) allowing governments to deny rap sheets requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Now it is possible to tap into a national database provided by the federal courts to obtain the information. In an opinion a federal judge has even acknowledged the possibility of using the national database, a sure indication that that privacy exemption has been seriously weakened. -db

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Illinois: Feds back university in records dispute

donal brown July 23, 2011

The Justice Department and higher education organizations filed briefs in federal court backing the University of Illinois in its refusal to release student records. The Chicago Tribune is seeking the records of students as part of a series of stories about alleged favoritism shown to some applicants to the university. The Justice Department noted that any university receiving federal funds was prohibited by a federal privacy law to release specific student records such as grades, test

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Justice Department provides guidance on FOIA exemption

donal brown May 12, 2011

After a key ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court narrowing  exemption 2 of the Freedom of Information Act, the Justice Department issued new guidelines on records relating to internal personnel rules and practices of federal agencies. The guidelines recognized public interest in many issues heretofore regarded as internal personnel matters and kept under wraps. The Supreme Court decision came after a Puget Sound resident Glen Scott Milner sued for records on the Navy’s placement of

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Former federal prosecutor loses case over reporter’s sources

donal brown March 28, 2011

A federal judge ruled against a former federal prosecutor claiming a confidential source from the Department of Justice violated his privacy rights by talking with a reporter. In his decision the judge said that the former prosecutor could not prevail in his case against the Department of Justice (DOJ) because he needed to show that the department “willfully violated his rights” under the Privacy Act and that the person leaking information to the press was

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