Category «Freedom of Information»

NSA Faces Significant Challenge in Declassification of Millions of Documents

Via FAS: “The National Security Agency has 46 million pages of historically valuable classified records more than 25 years old that are subject to automatic declassification by the end of December 2006, according to a new NSA declassification plan….A copy of the new NSA declassification plan was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by …

Subjects: Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

OpenCRS Site A Resounding Success

From CDT: “Less than a year after the Center for Democracy & Technology made Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports freely available to the public, members of the Internet community have responded by downloading more than 1 million of the informative documents from OpenCRS.com. CDT launched OpenCRS.com in June as a way to provide citizens access …

Subjects: E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries

New on LLRX.com

The January 15, 2006 issue of LLRX.com includes the following articles: Deep Web Research Research 2006, by Marcus P. Zillman The Google Library Project: The Copyright Debate, by Jonathan Band Researching Laws and Information on Nutritional and Dietary Supplements On the Web, by Joel Rothman Election Law @ Moritz, by Sara Sampson Adobe’s Macromedia Studio …

Subjects: Copyright, E-Commerce, E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Marketing, Search Engines, Web Site Accessibility and Usability

Comparison of Congressional Oversight During Clinton and Bush Administrations

“In a pair of new reports, Rep. Henry A. Waxman examines the failure of the Republican-controlled Congress to investigate wrongdoing by the Bush Administration and the very different approach toward oversight taken by the Republican-controlled Congress during the Clinton Administration. An additional report released in 2001 documents numerous examples of allegations against the Clinton Administration …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Privacy

Lawsuit Filed Against Bush and NSA Over Domestic Spying

Press release: “In New York, on January 17, 2006, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a lawsuit against President George W. Bush, the head of the National Security Agency (NSA), and the heads of the other major security agencies, challenging the NSA’s surveillance of persons within the United States without judicial approval or statutory …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Privacy

Gore Speech Targets Executive Powers and Domestic Surveillance

The New York Times reports on a speech given today in Washington D.C. at DAR Constitutional Hall by former Vice President Al Gore, the focus of which was presidential authority, government secrecy, domestic surveillance, and the decline of congressional power. An audience of several thousand attended Gore’s speech, which was simulcast by C-SPAN, and co-sponsored …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Privacy

ALA Announces Intention to File Patriot Act FOIA Request

American Libraries Online, January 13, 2006: “The American Library Association’s Executive Board intends to file a Freedom of Information Act request with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine if the FBI has been collecting information on the Association and its leaders as a result of their opposition to certain provisions of the USA Patriot …

Subjects: Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Libraries, Patriot Act

Pew Research Report Gauges Public Response to Recent High Profile Washington News

Americans Taking Abramoff, Alito and Domestic Spying in Stride – Democrats Hold Huge Issue Advantage, Released: January 11, 2006 (32 pages, PDF) Summary of findings: “The public has been hardly stirred by the flurry of major Washington news in the early days of 2006. Jack Abramoff’s admission that he bribed members of Congress has sparked …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Privacy

Former CIA GC Memo to Intel Cmte. Challenges Legal Authority For Domestic Surveillance

On January 3, 2006 Jeffrey H. Smith, a former General Counsel of the CIA and a former General Counsel of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a 16 page memorandum to the Members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, addressing the legal authorities regarding warrantless surveillance of U.S. persons. His conclusion – “The …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Waxman Presses For Public Access to Mine Safety Documents

“Rep. Waxman asks the Labor Secretary Chao to reverse the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s 2004 decision to exclude mine safety inspectors’ notes in Freedom of Information Act responses. The agency’s secrecy policy limited disclosure about hundreds of safety violations at the Sago mine for years before the recent disaster.” [January 11, 2006] Letter to …

Subjects: Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents

Bush Drops Opposition to Hearings on Domestic Surveillance

Following up on the series of references that were noted in my posting yesterday, news today that President Bush has apparently dropped his opposition to congressional hearings on the controversial domestic surveillance program about which news has appeared almost every day for the past month. Related reference on the upcoming hearings: President Participates in Discussion …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Freedom of Information, Legal Research, Privacy