Sunshine Week

Goldwater Defends Transparency in Two Public Records Lawsuits Government transparency laws like the federal Freedom of Information Act and the many state versions of that law are designed..

📄 Goldwater Institute asks Arizona Supreme Court to review two public records cases:

📌 City of Phoenix
📌 University of Arizona

www.goldwaterinstitute.org/goldwater-de...

#FOI #openrecords #lawsuit

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: JAWS Webinar: Public Records with MuckRock. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Have questions about FOIA or public records? MuckRock's Engagement Journalist Kelly Kauffman will give an introductory session on filing public records, how to use MuckRock's tools (including Document...

LAST CALL to register for the free #JAWS Webinar on April 16! Have questions about #FOIA or public records? MuckRock's Engagement Journalist Kelly Kauffman will give an introductory session on filing public records. us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

VCOG All Access News, 4/15/25: Access 25 photos; Documenters' minutes; sorry, but you still can't see #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

I AM BACK from parental leave. Has there been any big #FOIA or federal transparency news in the last four months? Let me know!

Asheville Watchdog sues City of Asheville, alleging open meetings law violations • Asheville Watchdog Asheville Watchdog is suing the City of Asheville over its refusal to allow reporters and the public to attend meetings of the Independent Review Committee (IRC), which was created to investigate the ...

avlwatchdog.org/asheville-wa...

American Oversight Seeks Information About DOGE Loyalty Surveillance and Newly Revealed Record-Keeping Failures - American Oversight American Oversight filed FOIA requests with multiple agencies for records related to DOGE’s reported use of Google Docs for official work, as well as AI to monitor the communications of government emp...

Laws about the preservation of government documents exist for a reason — to hold officials accountable for their actions. That includes DOGE-initiated mass firings, agency dismantling, and authoritarian loyalty tests.
americanoversight.org/american-ove...

Mayor Lurie doesn't want you to read his text messages London Breed was slammed for it last year. Now, in a “depressingly similar” scenario, the new mayor appears to be shrouding access to public records.

sfstandard.com/2025/04/02/d...

📍TODAY at 9:30am ET: @alexabdo.bsky.social will appear before the D.C. Circuit in a lawsuit alleging the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel is violating #FOIA by failing to disclose certain categories of legal opinions that are binding on the executive branch. Livestream: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzft...

An email from the securities and exchange commissions inspector General to her staff after Trump fired more than a dozen watchdogs says the agency's top priority is updating its "succession plan". The SEC IG wasn't sure if her job was at stake. Ultimately, it was saved

NEW FOIA Files newsletter is out!

When Trump fired inspectors general a few days after he was sworn in, I filed #FOIA requests with 73 IG offices for records related to the purge.

Here's what happened behind the scenes at some agencies.

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Opening remarks by:Veronica Donahue, Johns Hopkins UniversityDavid Cuillier, director of the Brechner FOI Project, University of FloridaOpen Boundaries for O... Sunshine Fest opening plenary, March 20, 2025

Did you miss @sunshineweek.bsky.social Fest? No worries!

You can watch the opening plenary as well as the keynote and closing now!

Hey #FOIA fans want to do your part to make it easier to get DOGE records?

Easy peasy. Send a short (polite!) email to National.FOIAPortal@usdoj.gov and say, please make it possible to submit electronic FOIA requests to the U.S. DOGE Service through FOIA.gov.

That's all. I'll take it from there.

Court blocks lawmaker emails with lobbyists from public view A panel of Commonwealth Court judges ruled that lawmakers don’t have to make public their communications with lobbyists.

www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/04...

The Freedom of Information Act: Perspectives from Public Requesters | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Prediction: At tomorrow's FOIA hearing, we will see renewed discussions of limiting #FOIA requests to US citizens only.

YouTube video by Alexander Howard DC Open Government Coalition Sunshine Week Event

I finally uploaded video of the DC Open Government Coalition’s #SunshineWeek event: youtu.be/1Nv-q10D8IU

In the interim, Chairman Mendelson lead an effort to carve out exemptions for the Council of DC from the District’s public meetings laws.
civic-texts.ghost.io/what-i-saw-a...

#OpenGov #FOIA

VCOG All Access News, 4/7/25: leaked memo; rule changes by budget?; VA fire/rehire; library uncertainty #FOIA
opengovva.org/transparency...

RFK Jr. promises radical transparency, then closes FOIA shops Plus: Which FOIA offices might be closed next

“Hello, the FOIA office has been placed on admin leave and is unable to respond to any emails.”

This doesn’t sound like “radical transparency” to me.

Check out my latest secrecy newsletter to see which FOIA offices have closed so far, and which might be next.

After promising transparency, RFK guts public records teams at HHS Despite promises for "radical transparency," Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid off many staff on teams that fulfill public records requests at health agencies.

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Screenshot of portion of npr article

My @rcfp.org colleague Gunita talked to @npr.org about the cuts to #FOIA offices across HHS and the negative ramifications for transparency: www.npr.org/sections/sho...

By the way, this wasn’t the first time Trump filed a #FOIA requests. In 2023, I obtained copies of FOIA requests Trump filed with the Internal Revenue Service during his first term as president.

Sunshine Week Tip: How journalists can use the library for access to information - Journalism Institute We asked librarian April Hines how journalists can tap librarians to help with their research and reporting.

#SunshineWeek: Libraries contain a treasure trove of information for journalists.

We asked a @ufjschool.bsky.social librarian how reporters can use the library to get the information they need — without an open records request: www.pressclubinstitute.org/2025/03/18/s...

I've dealt with the #FOIA staff at CDC, FDA and NIH for years. They provided a crucial public service. Delays in processing were the result of a complete lack of resources. Getting rid of the FOIA staff is neither efficient nor will it relieve the agency or it's statutory duty to process records.

1) DOGE firing an entire FOIA office doesn't negate an agency's statutory requirements to process FOIAs. Even if the agency is taken down to bare bones. They are still required to process FOIAs.

2) There will be no way to rebuild what DOGE breaks if there are are no records to use as a roadmap.

NEW: CDC FOIA page are being dismantled, including pages containing FOIA request logs and the portal to submit FOIA requests.

ACLU settles lawsuit with East Lansing over public record complaints East Lansing agrees to release police misconduct complaints following ACLU lawsuit settlement

A recent commission meeting in Ann Arbor has sparked a vital discussion on police misconduct transparency, influenced by an ACLU lawsuit that could reshape community relations.

Learn more here

#AnnArborCityWashtenawCounty #MI #PublicRecords #CommunityAccountability #CitizenPortal #AnnArborCity

Bill moving to remove Legislature from FOIA law, set own public document policy CHARLESTON – A bill moving in the final two weeks of the 2025 legislative session aims to allow the House of Delegates and state Senate to set their own policies on the kinds of documents made availab...

www.weirtondailytimes.com/news/local-n...

A spreadsheet with lawsuit cases data, a column for court documents, another for payment dates.

A continuation of the same spreadsheet this time with columns for the amount, police named in the suit, and a serial number column

This #FOIAFriday, and since liability settlements are in the news, I'm sharing something a few of us are working on. Los Angeles has spent $224 million in settlements for use of force/civil rights cases since 2016. That's *just* the use of force/civil rights cases.

FBI Agents, FOIA Staff Pulling All Nighters Reviewing Jeffrey Epstein Files An army of FBI agents and FOIA analysts have been holed up in the bureau’s sprawling Central Records Complex in Virginia as they process thousands of pages of Jeffrey Epstein files — at the expense of...

NEW FOIA Files is out! An army of FBI agents and FOIA analysts have been holed up in the bureau’s sprawling Central Records Complex in Virginia as they process thousands of pages of Jeffrey Epstein files — at the expense of #FOIA requests stuck in the FBI’s backlog
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Sunshine Week: Who's Benefiting from the CHIPS & Science Act? - Good Jobs First Sunshine Week: Who's Benefiting from the CHIPS & Science Act? - Good Jobs First

The #CHIPSAct could use a little sunshine ☀️. The Commerce Dept. is handing out billions of dollars in incentives to #semiconductor manufacturers but lacks basic transparency. Check out this blog written by our Coalition Director, Judith Barish: bit.ly/4c86kPF
#ICYMI #SunshineWeek

Privacy and transparency can coexist in a healthy democracy ⚖️. Last Thursday, EPIC’s Jeramie Scott spoke on a Sunshine Fest session panel about how to balance privacy with transparency. #SunshineWeek

☀️ Did you miss our important #SunshineWeek conversations about reporting on sexual abuse in schools and DEI changes at universities? Check out the recordings for a lot of can't-miss advice. Links below 📺 ⤵️