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The Commercial Appeal says they’ve reached a preliminary settlement with the FBI over a 2010 FOIA request that was answered with 348 heavily redacted documents relating to civil rights-era photographer Ernest Withers’ work as an informant for the agency. From the Associated Press:  About a year ago, the judge in the […]

The result of a “Civil Liberties Impact Assessment” conducted by the Department of Homeland Security has concluded that it’s unnecessary to require border officials to identify “reasonable suspicion” before searching personal electronic devices. From an excellent writeup on the decision’s significance by Wired’s David Kravets: The memo highlights the friction between […]

Freedom of Information Act requests can be an amazing tool for granting the public greater access to behind-the-scenes government operations. But information that valuable doesn’t come cheap. The Southtown Star reports that Steve Eberhardt, who’s running for mayor of Tinley Park, has filed enough FOIA requests over the past 13 […]

The folks at freedominfo.org (whose work mirrors our own on an international scale) are reporting that Croatia has adopted a new freedom of information law in conjunction with efforts to join the European Union. From FreedomInfo.org: “After almost 10 months of intensive work within working group of the Ministry of […]

Chicago journalist Stephen Franklin writes in with thoughts about a recent WBEZ report: We know from the news that Chicago school students are dying. But as this WBEZ report explain, we do not know that for a fact from Chicago public school officials. At least for 2013. The officials’ explanation, […]

Do we have any readers from the District? If you live in the Washington, D.C. area (or are willing to travel!) the National Press Club Journalism Institute is hosting a fantastic-sounding FOIA panel: Event: How to Make the Most of FOIA When: March 14, 2013, 6:30 – 8:00pm Where: National […]

Should states be responsive to FOIA requests from nonresidents, or should transparency advocates be kept in their own backyards? The Supreme Court is evaluating whether Virginia should be forced to turn over state documents requested by men from Rhode Island and California. The Associated Press reports that the justices seem […]

A Freedom of Information Act request at West Chicago Elementary has found FOIA regulations at odds with federal student privacy laws. The teachers union filed a request Jan. 15 for documents that included student contact information, and concerned parents spoke out against FOIA regulations that would allow student addresses to […]

The Chicago Headline Club’s first annual FOIA FEST min conjunction with The Better Government Association’s Andy Shaw, begins on Monday March 11 with an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at the auditorium of Columbia College Chicago’s journalism school, 33 E. Congress Pkwy., 2nd floor. Food and refreshments will be […]

From The Chicago Reporter’s Angela Caputo: About this time last year, Mick Dumke, a senior writer at the Chicago Reader, decided that he wasn’t going to bite his tongue any more. Dumke and I had privately been going back and forth about how to pry court records from the office […]