On May 13, the Center for Effective Government joined other open government organizations in urging Attorney General Eric Holder not to appeal the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York Times Co. v. Department of Justice. In April, the Second Circuit ruled that the government must disclose the legal analysis justifying the government's drone-based targeted killing program, in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Times.
Vermont’s open meetings work is not finished
Editorial: Vote YES on Prop 42 if you value open-government. Vote no if you prefer secrecy
Civic hacking is taking off
The best and brightest in open government at TransparencyCamp 2014
It's Open Government Week at Opensource.com, and the Sunlight Foundation is celebrating by bringing amazing people and projects together in open government, open data, and civic hacking. Join like-minded folks at TransparencyCamp in Washington D.C. on May 30 and 31.
TransparencyCamp has brought together hundreds of people to share their knowledge about how to use new technologies and develop policies to make our government really work for the people—and to help people work smarter with our government.
Op-Ed: Right to know compromised
Editorial: Expand public access
Short of rewriting the Virginia Constitution, there is no better way to recast the relationship between citizens and state government than overhauling the Freedom of Information Act. The law enables oversight of officials who operate on the people's behalf, spends public money and should be subject to scrutiny.
42 Mingo County (WV) employees have county-owned vehicles
Judge: Fort Smith Police, City Must Comply With Requests In Whistle Blower Case
Court backs disclosure of public retiree names
New York's highest court Tuesday ordered that the names of retired teachers, police officers and other government workers be released publicly in a case that tested the power of the state Freedom of Information Law.
In the unanimous decisions, the Court of Appeals decided it was not an invasion of privacy to identify retirees benefitting from the state's various pension systems for public workers. The court, however, said the addresses of the individuals shouldn't be made public.
White House Official Accused of Trying to Hide Communications
Cause of Action asks court to stop FTC abuse of FOIA fee waiver authority
How do the federal courts define who is a legitimate "representative of the news media"? According to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, that's "any person or organization which regularly publishes or disseminates information to the public."
But does a nonprofit watchdog group that advocates and litigates on behalf of the public's right to know what the government is doing also qualify as a representative of the news media?
Editorial: The Latest Benghazi Freak-Out in 10 Sentences
Lawmakers file bills bolstering Delaware's FOIA laws
Four pieces of legislation that could increase transparency in government and strengthen Delaware's Freedom of Information Act were filed by Democratic lawmakers Tuesday.
The bills tackle posting of meeting minutes, mailed FOIA requests, publishing of annual reports and require an annual seminar for the state's FOIA coordinators.
Future court rulings should require state chambers of commerce and other groups receiving tax dollars to adhere to open-records
NARA creates FOIA advisory committee
The National Archives and Records Administration will create a committee to improve the way the government process Freedom of Information Act request, a May 5 Federal Register notice says.
"NARA has determined that the creation of the FOIA Advisory Committee is in the public interest due to the expertise and valuable advice the Committee members will provide on issues related to improving the administration of FOIA," the notice says.
Believe the hype: Big data can have a big social impact
Given all the hype around so called big data at the moment, it would be easy to dismiss it as nothing more than the latest technology buzzword. This would be a mistake, given that the application and interpretation of huge – often publicly available – data sets is already supporting new models of creativity, innovation and engagement.
To date, stories of big data's progress and successes have tended to come from government and the private sector, but we've heard little about its relevance to social organisations. Yet big data can fuel big social change.
Editorial: Federal Data Act is a victory for open government commentary
City of Aztec (NM) strives for open government with new webpage
One thing is clear — city officials want citizens to see how local government operates.
Last month, the city of Aztec added a new page to its website in the effort to make public city records more accessible.
The new page features links to request public records, access the city's annual budgets, look at gross receipts collections per year, examine bids and contracts, read the city's 10-year fiscal analysis and summary, and other information.
Supreme Court: Prayer is allowed to open government meetings
Prayers that open town council meetings do not violate the Constitution even if they routinely stress Christianity, a divided Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The court said in 5-4 decision that the content of the prayers is not significant as long as they do not denigrate non-Christians or proselytize.
The ruling by the court's conservative majority was a victory for the town of Greece, N.Y., outside of Rochester. The Obama administration sided with the town.