A nonprofit organization will be repaid for legal fees it incurred to defend the public’s right to public records.
Category: State Secrets
How local governments thwart open-records laws and keep vital information from the public.
New database expands public access to information on public records
The interactive based on a Reveal series includes newly compiled data from MuckRock, which shows states are adding exemptions to public records laws.
L.A. transit agency must show if Canadian firm created jobs
A Canadian bus manufacturer committed to creating local jobs and paying a living wage. Did it follow through?
Posted inAccountability, State Secrets
US government fails to track toxic spills in nation’s waterways
The federal government routinely fails to list the amount of toxic chemicals spilled into the nation’s waterways, leaving the public in the dark about spills’ impacts on residents, neighborhoods and the environment.
Posted inAccountability, State Secrets
How private contractors are taking over data in the public domain
In dozens of U.S. cities and states, the rights to publish state and local laws don’t belong to the people or the governments. They belong to private contractors.
Posted inAccountability, State Secrets
Hidden dangers ahead: How states keep accident-prone roads secret
A federal law has been interpreted by many state governments and state courts to allow their agencies to keep secret studies, surveys and other data about dangerous roads, bridges and intersections if there is even a remote possibility that someone might one day sue the government for failing to make needed redesigns or repairs.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Law Enforcement, State Secrets
Cop camera footage: Public record or police property?
Under what circumstances should footage from police body and dashboard cameras be made public, and how much?
Posted inAccountability, State Secrets
Public contracts shrouded in secrecy
Government contracting, which involves billions of dollars in public funds each year, has become one of the least transparent systems that state and local governments maintain. Under the guise of protecting “trade secrets,” state and local governments are withholding critical information about public spending.
Posted inAccountability, State Secrets
Local governments hide public records, face few consequences
While much media attention is focused on federal government secrecy, secretive practices of state and local governments often get less scrutiny but frequently have a more immediate impact on communities.