Welcome to SPJ Blogs Sign in | Join | Help

April 2007 - Posts

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 5:05 PM

Illinois State Police rejecting records request regularly

    As reported on the  First Amendment Center's  Web site, the Illinois State Police routinely rejects records requests from the media, grieving families and , surprisingly, fellow cops. The police are citing privacy reasons,
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Thursday, April 19, 2007 2:17 PM

Student press bill dies in Washington Senate

A bill protecting student press rights died in the  Washington state Senate April 13  wwithout a vote. April 13 was the last day the Senate could vote on House bills, and H.B. 1307 was not moved to the floor.The bill, sponsored byt Rep. David
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 1:40 PM

Mass. court rules to keep seal on jurors names

BOSTON — A Superior Court judge was justified when he sealed the names of jurors in a gang-related murder case because the jurors feared gang reprisals, the state's highest court has ruled. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled unanimously on April 5 that
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 1:38 PM

News media groups seek access to AIPAC trial

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — News organizations filed documents in federal court yesterday opposing a government request to close portions of the upcoming trial of two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of violating the Espionage Act. News-media organizations,
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 1:22 PM

Oklahoma officials get tough with alleged meeting law violators

TULLAHASSEE —  Misdemeanor arrest warrants were issued Monday in Wagoner County District Court for three of the four board of trustee members who allegedly held illegal meetings. Read the Mukogee Phoenix story.
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 1:18 PM

Nevada Senate panel endorses records bill

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- An open-records bill was endorsed Monday by a Senate subcommittee after being amended to require agencies to respond to records requests within five working days instead of two days, as initially proposed.Read the Nevada AppealOr
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 1:15 PM

Conn. FOI agency head warns about proposed courts records bill

HARTFORD - The head of state government's right-to-know agency warned Monday that proposed legislation might move key court records beyond the reach of the law. Also Monday, the state's highest-ranking Supreme Court justice told the legislature's
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 09, 2007 10:09 PM

Idaho Supreme Court hears e-mail records challenge

COEUR DALENE, Idaho (AP) -- Idaho's Supreme Court was asked to determine Tuesday if e-mail messages sent between public employees using public computers can be considered private and thus exempt from the state's open-records law. Sitting here, the
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 09, 2007 9:43 PM

Great local reporting on open meeting law violations

The Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, Ill., did a review of local agencies compliance with the Illinois Open Meetings Act's rules on closed-session minutes. The paper's Web site features the compilation in a spreadsheet. This is a great project for even
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 09, 2007 9:40 PM

N.C. assembly considers overturning hospital records case

The state Supreme Court has ruled, but, unfortunately, the General Assembly might overturn the court's decision. The case involves the public's right to know about the operations of public hospitals. When Wilkes Regional Medical Center in North Wilkesboro
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 09, 2007 9:36 PM

Ga., Kan. join states limiting media access to lawmakers

A trend to watch out for?ATLANTA - The move was as much a surprise to most legislators as it was to reporters. Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson stepped to the podium two weeks ago on one of the busiest days of the legislative session and introduced
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 09, 2007 9:33 PM

Nevadans debate open records law revisions

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Government agency representatives urged a legislative panel Wednesday to revise a bill that would require the agencies to respond in two business days to a public records request. Many of the representatives also told a
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 09, 2007 9:26 PM

New Web site is a resource for records access in Pa.

A new Web site has been established to help Pennsylvanians get access to public records and know what they are entitled to see.The site is from a new nonprofit group, the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition, which said state has some of the
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 09, 2007 9:19 PM

San Diego County has trouble with records laws

The article docements local problems California Public Records Act Compliance. Southern California Sunshine Chair Jodi Cleesattle is quoted.See voiceofsandiego.org
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 09, 2007 9:15 PM

City Council creates office for FOIA

What a great idea!SUFFOLK, Va -- Local residents will soon have one place to go to acquire public documents.Suffolk City Council has created an office to handle Freedom of Information requests.It is scheduled to open May 1
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 09, 2007 9:09 PM

"How I learned to live with FOIA"

The most powerful tool of the public, the Freedom of Information Act, was the subject of "How I learned to live with FOIA," a discussion March 30 hosted by SPJ at  Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Coalition for Open Government Executive
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 02, 2007 5:36 PM

Washington student press bill advances, but leaves high school journalists behind

The Washington State Senate's Judiciary Committee voted to send a student press bill to the full Senate for approval, but not before stripping it of a provision protecting the press rights of high school journalists. Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina, said schools
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 02, 2007 5:16 PM

Concealed-gun permit database furor leads to state study

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=18337 Va. panel to study access to concealed-gun permit data Roanoke Times posted online, then took down, database of 135,000 permit holders, prompting hundreds of complaints.
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 02, 2007 11:41 AM

Philadephia Inquirer: Make Pa. records more open

The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial says Pennsylvania's records law now is among the weakest in the nation, with lots of small rules than can keep state data under wraps.
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments
Monday, April 02, 2007 11:34 AM

California FOI Training

New FOI  handouts and PowerPoint presentation are available on the SPJ Web site for California document-driven newsroom training. Stay tuned to the blog for more about last week's training in San Diego.http://www.spj.org/foiddnr.aspJoel CampbellFOI
posted by JoelCampbell | 0 Comments