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Transparency Public Records

Saiber LLC

New Jersey Governor Amends Its Open Public Records Act

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On June 5, 2024, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the first comprehensive reform to New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) since its passing in 2002. This amendment to the long standing legislation was met with much...more

Mandelbaum Barrett PC

Understanding Estate Planning: Are Wills Public Record? – Your Questions Answered

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Exploring the Visibility of Wills: Understanding Public Record in Estate Planning - Wills serve as vital documents outlining the distribution of finances, possessions, and property after an individual’s passing. It’s common...more

Troutman Pepper

HHS Releases Highly Redacted Rescheduling Letter to DEA: An Analysis of Exemption 5 to FOIA

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The principle of open government is foundational to a healthy democracy, and the availability of government records upon request from the public is one of its chief cornerstones. In the U.S., the primary mechanism by which...more

J.S. Held

Reclaiming Your Privacy in the Digital Age

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When you picture someone casing a house, a suspicious character in a white van parked down the street probably comes to mind. However, in today’s increasingly online world, bad guys can also enjoy the perks of working from...more

Snell & Wilmer

Check Your Privilege: The Arizona Supreme Court Clarifies the Scope and Application of the Legislative Privilege in Fann v. Kemp

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The ability to petition one’s leaders is long recognized regardless of the form of government. Ever since the Watergate Scandal, the United States has taken the lead on transparency in governmental acts and the interaction...more

Lathrop GPM

A Win for Open and Transparent Government in Missouri

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In a win for open and transparent government in Missouri, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the Missouri Sunshine Law prohibits public governmental bodies from charging persons who request public records under the...more

Franczek P.C.

Illinois Supreme Court Agrees with City of Chicago regarding Destruction of Police Officer Misconduct Records

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In a decision applauded by citizens of the City of Chicago and its leadership, the Illinois Supreme Court found that a provision in the collective bargaining agreement between the Fraternal Order of Police, Chicago Lodge No....more

Harris Beach PLLC

Repeal of Civil Rights Law 50-a Makes Police Disciplinary Records Public Through FOIL

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Municipalities in New York State should be ready to respond to an increased amount of Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”) requests as a result of a bill just passed in both houses of the New York State Legislature and signed...more

Association of Certified E-Discovery...

Court’s Police Body Camera Opinion Highlights E-Discovery Issues

The California Supreme Court recently issued an opinion that analyzes the public disclosure of police body camera footage and demonstrates the overlap between e-Discovery processes and other records production schemes. The...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

California Supreme Court: Government Cannot Charge Fee to Redact Police Body Camera Footage

California Public Records Act Provision Permitting Public Agencies to Charge for “Extraction” Analyzed - Government agencies are prohibited from charging a fee to redact police body camera footage in response to a...more

McManis Faulkner

The Right of Access to Information in the Time of COVID-19

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“Openness in government is essential to the functioning of a democracy.” This straightforward declaration by the California Supreme Court bears repeating during the COVID-19 health crisis.  “Newspapers, television, radio, and...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Record Disclosure Obligations for California Police

BB&K's Christine Wood Gives Updates on AB 748 and SB 1421 in PublicCEO - Now, more than ever, Californians have greater access to police personnel records, body and dashboard camera footage and other recordings acquired by...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

California Attorney General’s Office Clarifies its Information Bulletin Regarding Public Access to Police Records - Information...

Senate Bill 1421 affords the public access to police personnel records related to reports, investigations and findings, via the California Public Records Act process (not the familiar Pitchess process)....more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

BB&K Attorney Gary Schons Conducting Review of Police Use of Communication App - TigerText, Used in Long Beach, Automatically...

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The City of Long Beach has hired Best Best & Krieger LLP Of Counsel Gary Schons to conduct an independent investigation into the Long Beach Police Department’s use of a controversial communications app. TigerText, which...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

AB 748: More Public Access To Body Camera Footage Under PRA - Amendment To California Law Gives Public Agencies More...

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The California public will have a greater right to access police body camera footage, and any other audio or video recording acquired by any police agency or state prosecution office, under the Public Records Act with the...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

European Court of Justice Delivers Victory for EU Transparency and Accountability

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Landmark ruling requires the European Commission to disclose impact assessments used as a basis for its legislative decision-making process. The Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union recently issued a...more

Hogan Lovells

FDA Proposes New Rule to Increase Transparency and Access to Agency Documents Under FOIA

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The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA” or “the agency”) recently issued a proposed rule that will ease the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request process for certain records within FDA’s possession. The proposed rule...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Police Arrest Videos Not Considered Confidential

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The California Supreme Court recently denied considering an appellate court ruling from a case in Eureka that police arrest videos cannot be considered confidential officer personnel records and therefore kept from public...more

Troutman Pepper

Pennsylvania Legislature Seeks to Limit Access to Police Video Recordings

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The bill establishes a more restrictive process for obtaining video than the courts have provided for under the Right to Know Law. The Pennsylvania Senate passed a bill on October 19 that would prohibit police body...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Open Wide: FOIA Reform Expands Public Access to U.S. Government Information

On June 30, 2016, President Obama signed the bipartisan Freedom of Information Improvement Act of 2016 (S. 337). The bill most notably requires that the government operate under a “presumption of openness” in federal law and...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Body-Worn Cameras, the Prosecutor, and the Question of Public Access

BB&K attorney Gary Schons examines police body cameras from a variety of angles for the California District Attorneys Association’s Prosecutor’s Brief. The use of body-worn cameras by law enforcement officials and what...more

Troutman Pepper

Sunshine Creeps into Dark Corners of Harrisburg

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National Sunshine Week did not exist in the 1700s, but the Founding Fathers knew all too well the frustrations of accessing public records and even wrote about it right here in Philadelphia. Originally published in The...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Trademark, Copyright &...

Copyright Law Protects Course Syllabi From Disclosure Under Missouri Sunshine Law

Last month, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, held that a public university was not required to turn over copies of certain course materials, including course syllabi, in response to a public records request....more

Allen Matkins

Court Rules Private Fund Data Is Not A Public Record

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Private equity and venture capital funds like public pension fund money but they don’t necessarily like the consequences of having the government as an investor. As noted in this post, this was illustrated by Superior Court...more

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