In February, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case involving requests for public records from out-of-state residents.Monday, the court issued its unanimous opinion in the case, McBurney v.
Tag: newsgathering
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: If it’s yours to watch, it’s yours to tape — pushing back against restrictions on recording public meetings
Camera-shy government officials sometimes balk at allowing video recording of meetings that are otherwise open to the public.
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: As states retrench on openness of presidential searches, can journalists play “find-the-finalists?”
In their quest to conceal the selection of college presidents from the public's inquiring eyes, state officials are taking increasingly extreme and desperate measures.
Wyoming legislation to close college presidential searches waits now for governor’s signature
Legislation that would keep private records relating to college and university presidential searches in Wyoming passed through the Senate yesterday and awaits the governor's signature.Gov.
Maryland court ruling affirms public’s right of access to information about police misconduct
It's hard to imagine a subject in which there is a clearer public interest in complete information than the integrity of police.
Join SPLC’s Sunshine Week campus safety audit
In just a little over a month, journalists across the country will celebrate open government in action. Held annually in March, Sunshine Week is a chance for journalists to demonstrate to lawmakers and the public the importance of open government and easy access to public records.In the past, the Student Press Law Center has teamed up with student journalists across the country on public records projects.
To fix FERPA, raise the price of lying
Put yourself in the place of a school or college attorney. Your client, the institution, is trying to decide whether to fulfill or reject a journalist's request for public records.Honoring the request is going to be a nuisance, and the records contain some embarrassing information the school would rather not see on the evening news.The records pretty clearly don't contain any confidential student information -- but the journalist can't easily prove that.
LSU attorney tells presidential search committee to avoid creating public records
We were more than a little alarmed when we saw this story yesterday, about a search for the new president of the Louisiana State University system.
Charges against student journalists arrested while covering Occupy protests officially dropped
The charges against two student journalists who were arrested last year while covering the Occupy Atlanta protests were officially dropped Wednesday.Judy Kim and Alisen Redmond were reporting for their student newspapers, The Signal at Georgia State University and The Sentinel at Kennesaw State University, respectively.