Posted in Open Records on Jul 11th, 2007 No Comments »
With all the necessary focus on the state’s budget negotiations, open records discussions in the Capitol have pretty much faded from view. This is entirely understandable, but it also requires vigilance on our parts that a new, improved Right-to-Know law not get swept into the dustbin of good ideas and nice tries. Let’s face it, […]
Posted in Open Records News on Jul 10th, 2007 No Comments »
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a story about Hempfield Area School District refusing to release the results of a taxpayer-funded investigation into an email leak…
Posted in Open Records on Jul 10th, 2007 No Comments »
A couple of recent items of interest:
• News
Local FBI agent’s records could be made public
The disciplinary records of the lead FBI agent investigating former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht could be made public next week unless federal prosecutors appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia on […]
Posted in Open Records News on Jul 9th, 2007 No Comments »
Much of the attention at the Capitol has been focused on the budget lately - but Sunday’s York Daily Record had a great story about reforms in Harrisburg.
Posted in Open Records on Jul 9th, 2007 No Comments »
As the following excerpts from a recent article by Tracie Mauriello of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette make clear, (1) the voters spoke audibly for reform last November, (2) at least some of the legislators – particularly the new ones who ran on the issues – heard them, and (3) the result has been some movement in […]
Posted in Open Records on Jul 6th, 2007 1 Comment »
The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association recently sent the following email to all state legislators.
The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association is compiling a list of lawmakers who support improving the state’s Open Records Law. We will display the list on our blog: www.passopenrecords.org.
A strong open records law would include the following components:
1. Acknowledgment that […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 5th, 2007 No Comments »
July’s issue of Governing magazine has a great article - A Little Sunshine - which details open records and secrecy-reform laws gaining traction around the country. Check it out…
Posted in Open Records on Jul 4th, 2007 No Comments »
Independence Day seems like a good time to pause and see where we are with regard to a change in Pennsylvania’s open records law. This blog has pushed for getting broad legislative acceptance of the core principles as a first step; and that seems to be happening. Don’t get me wrong, at the end of […]
Posted in Open Records on Jul 3rd, 2007 No Comments »
Yesterday we reported on a story about a man who is suing Allegheny County for charging him $1,000 to provide him public information that he said should take less than an hour of work to produce.
Today we are pleased to report that at the longest outstanding request to a federal agency under the nation’s Freedom […]
Posted in Open Records on Jul 2nd, 2007 No Comments »
Legislators and other public officials who have been relatively good on making public their own records may actually be less likely than others to support expansion of the right-to-know law.
Why?
Because, according to some with whom I have spoken, they think they are doing enough, and they worry about what more may be demanded of them […]