Search

Categories

Total Results

No Record Found

View All Results
DONATE

transparency

A first: Size of budget for National Intelligence Program revealed

donal brown February 15, 2011

For the first time, the Director of National Intelligence disclosed the budget request for the coming year’s budget. For 2012, the amount requested is $55 billion. The call for  transparency has had a long history of contentious debate and litigation with the government arguing that revealing the budget could  hurt national security and compromise intelligence methods. From a commentary in Secrecy News, February 15, 2011, by Steven Aftergood. Full Story

Read More »

Congressional Research Service voices concerns about federal open government initiative

donal brown February 14, 2011

The Congressional Research Service has not been sold on the Obama administration’s Open Government Initiative. A recently updated report criticized the effort for offering more data to the public but not granting transparency about how the government functions. The report also noted that while increased public participation could help produce positive outcomes, it could also reduce the speed of government action and cause security and privacy concerns. -db From Secrecy News, February 14, 2011 by

Read More »

California: Dunsmuir sued again, this time for alleged open meeting violations

donal brown February 13, 2011

A former mayor of Dunsmuir is alleging there was a violation of California’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, by the city and several council members. The allegation centers on the claim that three council members were present at a meeting of Citizens for a Better Dunsmuir at which they discussed how to pay attorneys for a previous suit against the city. Experts differ over whether that constituted a Brown Act violation. -db From the Mount

Read More »

Democrats challenge new FOIA oversight intended to increase transparency

donal brown February 10, 2011

To enforce transparency, Darrell Issa (R- Ca), the new chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, asked a number of government agencies to submit records of Freedom of Information Act requests over the last five years. But House Democrats said the request would take too many hours of agency time, making it even  more difficult to honor current FOIA requests. They also said that the move would chill the public’s inclination to make

Read More »

Two civil liberties groups file motion to challenge WikiLeaks probe

donal brown February 9, 2011

The Electronic Freedom Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion to challenge the Justice Department’s  attempt to obtain the Twitter records of a former WikiLeaks associate. Among others, the U.S. government is is targeting Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of Iceland’s parliament. Jonsdottir was one of two people who helped Wikileaks prepare a classified military video published last April by the site. -db From Wired, February 8, 2011, By Kim Zetter. Full Story

Read More »