Category «Freedom of Information»

The Pentagon’s Getting More Secretive and It’s Hurting National Security

Defense One: “At a time of rampant executive branch corruption and large increases in defense spending, Americans are rightly concerned about the need for governmental transparency. People deserve to know how their money is being used, and what life-or-death decisions the Pentagon bureaucracy is making in their names. As President Trump asks for more defense …

Subjects: Congress, Defense, Economy, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Where ICE Secure Communities Removals Now Occur

“Nine out of ten counties in the United States with the most Secure Communities removals are in Texas and California. Fingerprints submitted to the FBI by law enforcement agencies from just these two states also gave rise to almost half (47%) of all recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removals under its Secure Communities program …

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

A mission for journalism in a time of crisis

In a turbulent era, the media must define its values and principles, writes Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner “Now we are living through another extraordinary period in history: one defined by dazzling political shocks and the disruptive impact of new technologies in every part of our lives. The public sphere has changed more radically in the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Legal Research

ICE Is Imprisoning a Record 44,000 People

Daily Beast – Congress told the immigration agency to reduce its detentions. Instead, ICE detained more people than ever, The Daily Beast has learned. Where did it find the money? “The number of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement has hit an all-time high, according to recent statistics reviewed by The Daily Beast. That …

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

Annual Report: FOIA Lawsuits Reach Record Highs in FY 2018

The FOIA Project at the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: “Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits continued to break record highs in FY 2018. According to case-by-case court records, 860 FOIA lawsuits were filed in FY 2018 against government agencies. In addition, the backlog of FOIA suits waiting to be decided rose to 1,204 cases, an …

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

Immigration Court Backlog Surpasses One Million Cases

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse – “The Immigration Court backlog has jumped by 225,846 cases since the end of January 2017 when President Trump took office. This represents an overall growth rate of 49 percent since the beginning of FY 2017. Results compiled from the case-by-case records obtained by TRAC under the Freedom of Information Act …

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

Concern for global democracy

Oxford University Press Blog: “A new report by the Democracy Project finds that a majority of Americans view democracy in the United States as weak and getting weaker. Even worse, nearly half of Americans express concerns that the United States is in “real danger of becoming a nondemocratic, authoritarian country.” Reports such as this one …

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

The Caselaw Access Project expands public access to US law

Three Hundred and Sixty Years of Caselaw: “The Caselaw Access Project (“CAP”) expands public access to U.S. law. Our goal is to make all published U.S. court decisions freely available to the public online, in a consistent format, digitized from the collection of the Harvard Law Library. Our data Scope limits By the numbers Digitization …

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

A Legal Framework to Govern Online Political Expression by Public Servants

Clarke, Amanda and Piper, Benjamin, A Legal Framework to Govern Online Political Expression by Public Servants (May 14, 2018). Clarke, Amanda & Benjamin Piper. 2018. “A Legal Framework to Govern Online Political Expression by Public Servants”, Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal, 21(1), 1-50. . Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3251375 “This paper considers the extent to …

Subjects: Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker

“Journalists in the United States face hostility from local and federal governments, along with a number of legal threats to themselves and their sources. This nonpartisan website aims to be the first to provide reliable, easy-to-access information on the number of press freedom violations in the United States—from journalists facing charges to reporters stopped at …

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

Appeals Court Says Georgia’s Laws (Including Annotations) Are Not Protected By Copyright And Free To Share

techdirt: “The 11th Circuit appeals court has just overturned a lower court ruling and said that Georgia’s laws, including annotations, are not covered by copyright, and it is not infringing to post them online. This is big, and a huge win for online information activist Carl Malamud whose Public.Resource.org was the unfortunate defendant in a …

Subjects: Copyright, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries