📄 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

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!

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...

📍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...

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...

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 [email protected] 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.

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

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...

“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.

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.

#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.

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

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.

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...

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 📺 ⤵️

Interested in volunteering? This summer we will host an orientation for those interested to learn more and decide if you want to participate. Learn more and fill out the interest form: nowkalamazoo.org/202... #NowKalamazoo #Kalamazoo #SunshineWeek

VCOG All Access News, 3/28/25: ruling against CA upheld; availability of Flock data; reliability scale #FOIA opengovva.org/transparency...

I just got back my December FOIA for a list of “all transition team members that Donald Trump requested for security clearance.” Here are the docs. #FOIA #PublicRecords

🌞 #SunshineFest 2025 featured 180+ attendees, inspiring speakers, and important conversations on freedom of information. 🎥 Plenary session recordings coming soon on YouTube. Check out the biggest takeaways here: brechner.org/2025/03/24/s...

Give @goodjobsfirst.org a follow for great analysis, best practices and advocacy on the issue of development incentives and their impact on local taxing jurisdictions, such as school districts. Check out GJF's "Tax Break Tracker." 🧵 of 3 articles from #SunshineWeek 👇 #EndSubsidySecrecy

In this episode of Grumble and Growl, we dive into Sunshine Week with @Michelle Allen, Vice President of the New York Coalition for Open Government. Watch the full episode here open.spotify.com/episode/4HFk... #sunshineweek #transparencymatters #opengovernment #grumbleandgrowlpodcast

As part of #SunshineWeek, three former Western Washington journalists reflect on winning their multi-year battle for public records. Now they're using the settlement to support future investigative student journalism. splc.org/2025/03/winn...

Last week, I was honored to speak at the first Sunshine Fest in Washington, held at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center during Sunshine Week. Many thanks to David Cuiller and Shelley Kimball, Ph.D. for convening an extraordinary conference during #SunshineWeek: SunshineWeek.org

Kansas government efficiency committee restricts access to public suggestions | via @anna-writes.bsky.social #ksleg

ICYMI - Providing access to public records and meetings is ‘real’ work, and history has repeatedly shown that ‘real’ bad things happen when the laws are weakened or violated. buff.ly/C2gPvEB #SunshineWeek #COleg #copolitics

ICYMI - ‘City Council violated (the open meetings law) by improperly convening and taking a ‘position … or formal action’ in deciding to end Jurinsky’s censure proceedings…’ buff.ly/R2GWzrz #COpolitics #COleg #SunshineWeek

Wrapping up our #SunshineWeek coverage, Good Jobs First's Greg LeRoy writes about the importance of state- and local-level disclosures in economic development being more important than ever. And what he heard during the inaugural #SunshineFest. #SunshineWeek goodjobsfirst.org/sunshine-wee...

Happy belated Sunshine Week. #SunshineWeek #VoiceOfAmerica #Trump #MAGA #Fascism #Democracy #RadioFreeEurope

If you're looking for some weekend reading, check out my @muckrock.com essay -- published for @sunshineweek.bsky.social -- about the genre of #FOIA fueled nonfiction books. A quote: "I hope that some future writer-researcher finds [these books], and derives motivation to keep fighting."

It’s #SunshineWeek, a week that celebrates & promotes access to information and open government nationwide. Today, we’re highlighting the power of #FOIA with a thread about its past, present, and future.

To cap Sunshine Week, I am excited to announce that I have been chosen to join the board of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. I can't wait to get down to work with other journalists, lawyers and evangelists for government transparency and the public's right to know. #txlege #FOIA

"Always request records, not 'information.' Describe the record as specifically as possible including date created, title, and custodian of the records." @foianate.bsky.social shares important #FOIA tips in honor of #SunshineWeek. www.pressclubinstitute.org/2025/03/20/f...

NEW FOIA Files newsletter is out! I obtained more than 400 pages of documents via #FOIA from the CDC that reveal the chaotic turn of events after the Trump administration ordered the agency to stop communicating with the public. www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

It’s #SunshineWeek! ☀️ At EPIC, we utilize #OpenGovernment laws, like FOIA, to expose secretive government surveillance programs and prevent the exploitation of people's data. Stay tuned this all this week to see how we leverage these laws for public good: epic.org/rays-ing-the...

More #SunshineWeek highlights, EPIC recently sued OPM about its attempts to collect sensitive info on federal workers and whether or not it is following all the necessary security protocols to protect this info and its databases. Read more from @abigailkunkler.bsky.social: epic.org/is-opm-more-...