Category «Freedom of Information»

‘FuckLAPD.com’ Lets Anyone Use Facial Recognition to Instantly Identify Cops

404 Media: “A new site, FuckLAPD.com, is using public records and facial recognition technology to allow anyone to identify police officers in Los Angeles they have a picture of. The tool, made by artist Kyle McDonald, is designed to help people identify cops who may otherwise try to conceal their identity, such as covering their …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research

House Bill Would Lay Waste to Congress’s Watchdogs and Information Experts

First Branch Forecast – “The House of Representatives is poised to inflict catastrophic damage on its own institutional capacity. Today, the House Appropriations Committee released its proposed funding levels for the Legislative Branch, which would slash the Government Accountability Office’s budget by 50 percent and the Library of Congress by 12 percent from FY 2024 …

Subjects: Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries

ProPublica Sued the FDA for Withholding Records About the Safety of Generic Drugs

ProPublica: “ProPublica has sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in federal court in New York, accusing the agency of withholding information about the safety and availability of generic drugs critical to millions of Americans. For years, Congress, watchdog groups, doctors and others have questioned the quality of generic drugs made in factories overseas. To …

Subjects: Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research, Medicine

Trump Transcripts

Roll Call Factbase, powered by FiscalNote StressLens, allows users to search for, browse, read the transcripts and watch the video of Trump’s Interviews, Press Briefings, Press Conferences, Press Gaggles, Remarks, Speeches, and Vlogs. In a significant break from providing access to presidential documents, none of these government documents are posted on the White House website.

Subjects: Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Trump Anti-Press Social Media Tracker

“Few modern presidents have waged a more visible or sustained campaign against the press than Donald Trump. From the launch of his political career, Trump has used social platforms — first Twitter, then Truth Social — to attack, belittle and discredit journalists, news outlets and the media as a whole. To better understand the scope …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

Lifting the American Supreme Court Veil: Identifying Authorship in Unsigned Opinions

Avraham, Ronen and Sharan, Roded and Kricheli Katz, Tamar and Nasser, Rami, Lifting the American Supreme Court Veil: Identifying Authorship in Unsigned Opinions (March 27, 2025). U of Texas Law, Legal Studies Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5207281 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5207281 The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issues 10-15 % of its opinions unsigned, …

Subjects: AI, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Combating State Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention

“In 2023, in coordination with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) where I’m a non-resident associate, I helped launch a bi-partisan commission on hostage taking and wrongful detention. It’s an extraordinary group of experts, including diplomats, law enforcement officials, congressional staffers, lawyers, journalists and former hostages. Our co-chairs are former National Security Advisor …

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

Warren Report: Special Interests over the Public Interest: Elon Musk’s 130 Days in the Trump Administration

“U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a new report entitled, “Special Interests over the Public Interest: Elon Musk’s 130 Days in the Trump Administration.” The report provides 130 examples of unethical or potentially corrupt actions that benefit Musk or his companies — one for each day of Musk’s service as a Special Government Employee.  While …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Securities Law, Social Media

The US Is Storing Migrant Children’s DNA in a Criminal Database

Wired – no paywall: “The United States government has collected DNA samples from upwards of 133,000 migrant children and teenagers—including at least one 4-year-old—and uploaded their genetic data into a national criminal database used by local, state, and federal law enforcement, according to documents reviewed by WIRED. The records, quietly released by the US Customs …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Medicine, Privacy

These historians oversee unbiased accounts of U.S. foreign policy

Washington Post – Trump fired them all. The volumes of the Foreign Relations of the United States have been written since Abraham Lincoln’s time [no paywall] The Historical Advisory Committee — “the HAC,” in Washington lingo — is made up of nine academics nominated to serve rotating terms by the biggest and most prestigious associations …

Subjects: Congress, Education, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

New Livestream Brings Microfiche Digitization to Life for Democracy’s Library

Internet Archive Blogs: “Ever wonder how government documents, once locked away on tiny sheets of microfiche, become searchable and accessible online? Now you can see it happen in real time. Today, the Internet Archive has launched a livestream from our microfiche scanning center (https://www.youtube.com/live/aPg2V5RVh7U), offering a behind-the-scenes look at the meticulous work powering Democracy’s Library—a …

Subjects: E-Records, Education, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines