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FOIA Reform Support Needed Now!

Earlier this year, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VIT) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced S. 2520, the FOIA Improvement Act. The bill has generated a lot of enthusiasm in the open government community because it puts reins on agencies' overuse of the exemption covering "pre-decisional material" by requiring that they weigh the public interest in the release of the record. The bill also strengthens the Office of Government Information Services, which was created in 2007 to help enforce the law and to help settle FOIA disputes out of court, and makes other common-sense changes to the way agencies process requests for records. Time is short, though! While the House already passed a similar bill, there are several steps the bill must go through before it can be written into law. "Read more" to find out more about the bill, and how you can help.

08/01/2014

Statement: New US National Action Plan Initiatives

The US will address four new openness issues as part of its 2014-2015 National Action Plan, honoring its promise to make the second Plan a “living document.” The new commitments largely build on the government’s new and existing data and technology initiatives. The government’s commitment to increase transparency in spending now includes the administration’s efforts to implement the DATA Act.

09/24/2014

What's the Legal Basis for Strikes in Syria?

Last night, the United States began bombing targets in Syria. Whatever the policy merits of these strikes, there are crucial unanswered questions about their legal justification.

09/23/2014

Time to Open Up Party Conference and Caucus Rules

Twenty-five groups dedicated to openness and accountability asked the leaders of Congressional party caucuses and conferences to post their rules online. Public access to these rules would provide essential information about how Congress governs—how legislation leaves chambers, who may lead committees, and more.

09/19/2014

Creating a More Open and Accountable Congress - September 16, 2014 Newsletter

– Brief Updates on Coalition Partners & Others (more)
– Join the Celebration of Global Legislative Openness Week (more)
– Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments Pass Senate (more)

09/16/2014

Four Members of Congress join OpenTheGovernment.org and Other Groups In Seeking End to Secret Legal Interpretations of Executive Order 12333

OpenTheGovernment.org, four members of Congress, and over forty other civil society organizations wrote to President Obama and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) asking for a thorough investigation of the NSA’s surveillance under Executive Order 12333. The letter, organized by Access, states in part:

09/03/2014

Court Records Disappear from PACER

On August 11th, Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) deleted records from several federal courts from its online database with little notice, once again spotlighting how PACER obstructs public access to court records. PACER is maintained by the Administrative Office of the US Courts and charges 10 cents for each page of public court documents downloaded.

09/02/2014

Secrecy Check: FOIA in FY2013

Each year, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) collects and summarizes agencies’ FOIA reports to give a look at the broader state of FOIA processing.

08/21/2014

Congress Must Reform Itself to Change the CIA's Culture of Secrecy

Last week we, together with our partner the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) and others, called on President Obama to request CIA Director John Brennan's resignation. This request was made in light of the disturbing confirmation that CIA employees improperly accessed records of investigators from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the CIA's lack of candor about the situation.

08/18/2014

5 Assumptions You Might Make about the FOIA Improvement Act

Earlier this summer longtime champions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced S. 2520, the FOIA Improvement Act. The bill builds on several reforms that were included in a bill passed unanimously by the House (HR 1211) and, crucially, puts limits around the use of one of the most overused and abused exemptions in the law. The fact that more than 50 organizations from across the political spectrum and with a wide variety of missions joined in supporting the bill shortly after its release is a tribute to how important it is for the Senate to pass S. 2520. It’s important to understand, though, exactly what the bill will and will not do. Below we take you through some assumptions that you might make about the possible effect of passing the bill.

08/15/2014

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