After the entire court system of Oregon moved its public records online with software from a private vendor, the county government in Portland hired the same company, Tyler Technologies, to upgrade its criminal docket system. But that initiative hit a $1 million snag that stalled the project and has now sparked a federal lawsuit.
Read moreA Texas appeals court reversed an order quashing a felony charge of tampering with government records brought against Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens, finding the state’s attorney general is authorized to prosecute violations of election laws, even if such violations are outside the state’s Election Code.
Read more
Video of a historic bench trial that led to the overturning of California’s ban on same-sex marriage must be unsealed next month, a federal judge ruled Thursday, after finding no good reasons support keeping them hidden from public view.
Read more
The U.S. Department of Labor cannot withhold workplace injury data for online retailer Amazon’s warehouses because the law requires those records be released to employees upon request with no restrictions on subsequent disclosures, a federal judge ruled Monday.
Read moreThe University of California, Irvine sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in federal court for information on its $90 million Palantir surveillance, data mining and analysis systems.
Read moreThe Department of Labor must provide unredacted copies of Amazon’s injury and illness data to the Center for Investigative Reporting, a federal court in California ruled. Amazon submitted its Form 300As to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration at a time when the agency stated it would publicly post the data.
Read moreThe Open Society Justice Initiative sued the Departments of Defense and State, the CIA et al. for information on when and in what manner President Trump was informed about the Covid-19 pandemic, and what information he received.
Read moreThe State Troopers Fraternal Association of New Jersey sued the state in Mercer County Court, claiming the state will endanger its members if they release names of officers involved in disciplinary violations.
Read moreCowboys for Trump sued New Mexico in federal court, claiming it need not disclose the names of its members and contributors.
Read more
A Chicago police union’s collective-bargaining agreement requirement that the police department destroy all officer disciplinary records after five years is unenforceable because it conflicts with public policy and state records law, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Read moreThe Protect Democracy Project et al. sued President Trump in federal court for his refusal to perform his statutory duty to publish “the legal and policy frameworks for the United States Government’s use of military force (‘War Powers Transparency Report’).”
Read more
New York state lawmakers repealed a decades-old law Tuesday that has kept law enforcement officers’ disciplinary records secret, spurred by the national uproar over the death of George Floyd.
Read more
The Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over whether the school records of the deceased Dayton gunman who killed nine people last year should be made available to the public and press.
Read moreKSL-TV sued Utah County in superior court in a public records complaint for its “wrongful refusal to release public records identifying two businesses that were publicly declared to have flouted Covid-19 restrictions, leading to outbreaks that infected over five dozen people and endangered countless others.”
Read more
Australia’s highest court ruled on Friday to make public letters between Queen Elizabeth II and her representative that would reveal what knowledge she had, if any, of the dismissal of an Australian government in 1975.
Read moreThe King County Superior Court in Washington dismissed a transparency watchdog’s lawsuit against Fox News relating to its coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic. The court ruled the group’s goal of ensuring the public receives accurate information about the virus is “laudable,” but its claim “runs afoul” of the First Amendment.
Read more
The California Supreme Court came down on the side of government transparency in a closely watched case with implications for how parties can obtain requested electronic records like body cameras worn by police.
Read moreIn search of information on whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered federal workers to do personal errands for him and his wife, NBCUniversal sued the State Department in federal court for “records of electronic communications between Susan Pompeo’s personal email address and email addresses with a @state.gov domain name, sent or received on or between April 26, 2018 and November 13, 2019.”
Read more
California prison administrators refuse to turn over public data on parole candidates because they disagree with a researcher’s prior findings of racial disparities in parole board decisions, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
Read more
The Second Circuit upheld a ruling Monday that records of who has visited President Donald Trump’s White House and private Florida resort are exempt from government watchdog groups’ Freedom of Information Act requests.
Read more