Upcoming Release of WMD Report Subject to Redaction Prior to Release
WMD report not expected to praise intelligence agencies
Category «Freedom of Information»
New Open Source Journal on Freedom of Information
“A new open access e-journal entitled “Open Government: a journal on freedom of information” published its inaugural issue on the 22nd March 2005. The journal, funded by School of Business Information at Liverpool John Moores University aims to publish research and communications related to Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation from the perspective of academics, practioners …
Study Details Public Access to State Records
Press release: New University of Florida Study Ranks States’ Records Access Laws – The project’s panel of experts, known as the Sunshine Review Board, compared the state laws for 30 categories of legal provisions related to records requests and ranked them on a Sunshine Index for openness. The overall ranking is based on states’ performance …
Sensitive But Unclassified Gov Docs Released by Sen. Levin
Press release yesterday: “Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., today released previously withheld portions of an FBI document critical of interrogation practices used by the Department of Defense (DOD) at Guantanamo Bay in 2002, disclosing information in that document previously withheld by the Department of Justice (DOJ). In a letter to DOJ on February 10, 2005, Levin …
FOIA Action to Compel Release of Air Force Documents
Press release today: “The National Security Archive today filed (108 pages, PDF) suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the Department of the Air Force for a pattern and practice of mishandling scores of FOIA requests. The suit alleges that the Air Force fails to acknowledge FOIA requests, loses …
Public Access to Gov Docs Faces Increasing Limitations
From Slate, The Age of Missing Information – The Bush administration’s campaign against openness. Formal Statement, J. William Leonard, Director, Information Security Oversight Office, National Archives and Records Administration, before the Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, March 2, 2005: “Classification is an important …
AP Launches FOI Webpage
The new AP and Freedom of Information website includes links to FOI news stories from AP, an interactive guide to filing FOI requests, a list of links to FOI resources, and a Q&A with AP’s CEO, Tom Curley, who states: “As we have reported, government at all levels is restricting access to information. We in …
FOI Requests At All Time High
AP reported today that “Americans made more than 4 million requests to the federal government under the Freedom of Information Act in 2004, a new high for requests in a single year.” Related references from EPIC: Freedom of Information Act Gallery “highlights some of the most significant documents we obtained this year.” “…EPIC FOIA Notes, …
More FOIA Resources for Sunshine Week
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security hearing, Openness in Government and Freedom of Information: Examining the OPEN Government Act of 2005, March 15, 2005. Includes links to testimony and member statements (HTML format) Sen. John Cornyn’s (RTexas) speech on bipartisan bill to promote openness in government Arbiter would ease FOIA disputes, experts say ‘Strange …
FOIA Letter Regarding Exclusion of Foreign Nationals
Press release: “ACLU Seeks Records on Use of Patriot Act to Deny U.S. Entry to Prominent Foreign Scholars – Citing a serious and growing threat to academic freedom, the American Civil Liberties Union today filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records concerning the governments practice of excluding scholars and other prominent individuals …
Report Recommends Regulatory Reforms to Balance Document Security and Public Access
The University of Maryland Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise announced the availablity of a report, The Unintended Audience: Balancing Openness and Secrecy – Crafting an Information Policy for the 21st Century (76 pages, PDF), that addresses post 9/11 limitations on public access to unclassified but “sensitive” government documents, and the associated impact of …
Sunshine Week Showcase
This page, which will be updated throught Sunshine Week, provides summaries and links to selected national and state sources on the open government issue. Related resources: Government secrecy: dark cloud over open society – Inside the First Amendment, by Paul K. McMasters, First Amendment Center ombudsman Michigan Freedom of Information Act
