Body Cameras are being adopted in police departments across the United States and should be considered an enormous step forward for open government, transparency, and accountability standards. However, as quickly as body cameras are being adopted, many police departments are also denying access to these records via freedom
In the wake of events in Ferguson, New York, and other U.S. cities, police use of body-worn surveillance cameras has become a national debate. Many activists have made the case for this upgrade in surveillance citing cities like Rialto, California which saw an 88% decrease in complains against officers and a
The FOIA Reform Bill passed unanimously by Senate Judiciary Committee in November was struck down in the House last week by Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) The bill had passed smoothly in the House earlier this year with a unanimous vote of 410-0. It then moved to the Sen. Judiciary Committee
A FOIA reform bill passed unanimously by Senate Judiciary Committee in November may pass the full Senate as early as Friday. The Freedom of Information Act bill has been championed by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) but was today met with a hold placed by Sen. Tom Coburn
Earlier this week the Senate Judiciary Committee proposed it’s amended “FOIA Improvement Act of 2014 and it is set for passage through the lame-duck session of Congress. Upon its release, open government advocates and FOIA followers jumped to voice their opinion of the new proposed bill, and this FOIA
For the Freedom of Information Act to truly make an impact, there must be continual encouragement from both the public and inside government. The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to vote on a bill that will update the FOIA on sometime this week. This bill would require federal agencies
In the modern era of the FOIA and Open Government, one of the most common discussion topics is the utilization of portals. Most recently, there has been and continues to be a large push for a single government wide portal that would be the epicenter for FOIA submissions.
Happy Halloween! Tackling a FOIA request may seem daunting, but don’t let that haunt your thoughts. When you break down the FOIA process, it’s not quite as spooky as it might seem at first. Just look to Halloween traditions to help you handle your Freedom of Information requests: Go
This morning for my #Monday #FOIA #Advice tweet, I tweeted about FOIA communications and it started a little buzz and demonstrated it was a well worthy topic for a blog. FOIA communication is not only an essential action for better FOIA processing for requesters and FOIA offices, but also
With the start of the new fiscal year still in our shadow, it is a great time for all FOIA compliant agencies and offices to implement initiatives to increase transparency and open government. It is important to remember that the purpose of the FOIA is to provide the
