Newsworthy video from school surveillance cameras can’t be withheld from the public on the grounds of student privacy (FERPA), a group of open-government groups argues in a brief filed with a Pennsylvania appeals court.
Tag: freedom of information
From the SPLC Legal Network: A new FOI obstacle for journalists who need access to student testing data
A recent opinion by the Virginia Supreme Court illustrates just how closely requests for teacher-specific information can be scrutinized, and drives home the importance of carefully considering an open-records request before making it.
NEWS RELEASE: Student Press Law Center debuts new online reference resource to help advocates enforce open-records laws
A library of state-by-state reference materials created with the help of SPLC attorney volunteers can help simplify the task of understanding and enforcing open-records laws, a frequent source of tension between journalists and educational institutions.
Knight News files third lawsuit against UCF, claims student government held secret meetings
A student news organization filed its third lawsuit against the University of Central Florida last month after the student government budget committee met and discussed the organization’s multi-million dollar budget in secret and did not comply with open records requests, according to the complaint.
Second Oklahoma university agrees to release campus parking ticket records
Officials at Oklahoma State University announced they will release the names of students who receive parking tickets on campus, one day after the University of Oklahoma’s president said it would release the citations.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: “Personal privacy” exception to open-records access can’t be allowed to swallow the rule
Government obfuscation in the face of requests for public records can be irritating. At times, maddening.
Are governments with stronger FOI laws also more corrupt? A new study challenges “good government” assumptions.
Does a well-enforced freedom-of-information law lead to more honest government?Intuition says "of course," but a newly released study by a University of Missouri researcher challenges that assumption.Doctoral student Edson C.
Supreme Court hears arguments in out-of-state FOI case
Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in McBurney v. Young, a case involving out-of-state public records requests.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: This just in… lawyers have to obey the law
Like it or not, attorneys who work on contract for government agencies -- and, it turns out, even those whose payment flows through government agencies' insurance companies -- must let the public know what they're charging for.That's the bottom line of a new ruling from the Wisconsin Supreme Court that comes just a few months after courts in California and Ohio reached the same conclusion.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Six freedom-of-information resolutions every student journalist should make for 2013
There's nothing as empowering -- or maddening -- as a clean slate. What will you do with 2013? Drop those 15 pounds?