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The FOI ADVOCATEFebruary 11, 2006 Vol. 4, No. 28The E-Newsletter of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, a unit of the Missouri School of Journalism "A government by secrecy benefits no one. It injures the people it seeks to serve; it damages its own integrity and operation. It breeds distrust, dampens the fervor of its citizens and mocks their loyalty." -- 110 Congressional Record 17, 087 (1964) (Statement of Senator Long) NFOIC NEWSSEND US YOUR STATE’S NEWS at daviscn@missouri.edu. “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." -- Justice Louis Brandeis, 1928 (Articles link to external sites) TOP OF THE NEWS"Suppression of information is the surest way to cause its significance to grow and persist," the judge opined. "Clarity and openness are the best antidotes, either to dispel criticism if not merited or, if merited, to correct such errors as may be found." -- Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Federal District Court in Manhattan, ordering the Pentagon and other agencies to release another series of documents and videos on the detentions at Abu Ghraib prison. SOME GOOD FOI NEWS: In a rare relaxation of mounting restrictions on disclosure of government information, the Labor Department has agreed to reverse its policy of withholding notes taken by mine safety inspectors from prompt release under the Freedom of Information Act. In a January 11 letter written in the wake of the Sago mine disaster, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) had urged the Secretary of Labor to permit disclosure of these notes (Secrecy News, 01/17/06). "This unwarranted secrecy may protect the mining industry from embarrassing disclosures, but it undermines accountability and mine safety," Rep. Waxman wrote. On January 20, three House Republicans, including Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), the new House Majority Leader, wrote to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to make the same request. "We share the concern expressed by some that ... this blanket policy has had the effect of denying important information about mine safety to the public." In a January 30 reply to Majority Leader Boehner, a Labor Department official wrote that the disclosure policy would be revised to permit release of mine inspector notes "effective immediately." Rep. Boehner applauded the move. "Our request to Secretary Chao was made for one simple reason: to get more information, more quickly into the hands of Congress, the families impacted by the tragedies, and all those with a stake in mining and these investigations," he said. GENERAL FOIA NEWSI believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." --James Madison, speech in the Virginia Convention, June 16, 1788 EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT FOI: A sizable inventory of organizations, web sites, and publications concerned in some way with government secrecy was presented in a recent survey. “In the interest of sharing information, here is a list of Web sites, blogs, listservs, and newsletters that could help clients needing access to government documents but who might experience difficulty locating that information. The list is arranged by government watchdog sites, sites that provide access to government documents, sites that document government secrecy, and advocacy groups that report on FOIA news." WAXMAN SEEKS MINING RECORDS: Rep. Henry Waxman sent a letter to Labor Secretary Chao regarding the Mine Safety and Health Administration's 2004 decision to exclude mine safety inspectors' notes in Freedom of Information Act responses. The agency's secrecy policy limited disclosure about hundreds of safety violations at the Sago mine for years before the recent disaster: “Prior to 2004, MSHA publicly disclosed both the results of mine safety inspections and the reports and notes filed by inspectors that provided the documentation of any violations found. The inspectors' reports and notes were particularly important. Not only were they used by mine safety organizations, mine workers, and the public to identify dangerous mines and practices, they were also useful to mine operators implementing needed improvements in mine safety. In 2004, MSHA reversed its interpretation of the Freedom of Information Act, deciding that the inspectors' reports and notes did not need to be disclosed under FOIA. As a trade publication reported at the time, "without public comment or input, MSHA secretly changed its long-standing policy of routinely releasing inspector notes under the Freedom of Information Act." The rationale for this change was unclear. The reports do not implicate national security or privacy concerns. Although the change in policy was publicly acknowledged by MSHA officials, the documentation behind the change in policy has not been released...” YOU SEE? SECRECY EVEN KILLS WHALES: Documents released under a court order show that a government investigator studying the stranding of 37 whales on the North Carolina coast last year changed her draft report to eliminate all references to the possibility that naval sonar may have played a role in driving the whales ashore. The issue of sonar's effects on whales is a sensitive topic for the U.S. Navy. It has clashed with environmentalists in several court suits seeking to limit use of the technology because of its possible effects on marine mammals and other sea creatures. The January 2005 stranding occurred shortly after naval maneuvers in the area -- which is off North Carolina and in the region where the Pentagon wants to build a controversial underwater sonar training range. In her initial April 2005 preliminary report on the deaths, Teri Rowles, coordinator of the National Marine Fisheries Service's stranding response program, described injuries to seven of the whales that "may be indicative" of damage related to the loud blasts of sound from active sonar. But before it was released by NRDC, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an updated report -- by Rowles and others -- that did not mention sonar. In a cover letter to that report, NOAA officials said the initial draft that mentioned sonar "contains early information that was later found to be inaccurate." ACTIVISTS SEEK ANTI-GAY SPY DATA: The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network on Monday sued the U.S. Defense and Justice departments for information about the government's reported investigation of gay rights groups, specifically groups protesting "don't ask, don't tell." The lawsuit comes one month after the legal advocacy group submitted a request for specifics under the Freedom of Information Act. The Jan. 5 FOIA request, joined by 13 other LGBT organizations, was targeted at six agencies operating under the jurisdiction of the Justice and Defense departments, and demanded any documents relating to domestic spying on campus demonstrations or LGBT groups. The request was triggered not only by media coverage of the National Security Agency's domestic wiretapping, but also by reports on the little-known Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA) and several other clandestine units. The CIFA, a 4-year-old arm of the Defense Department, was reportedly involved in spying on "don't ask, don't tell" protesters at New York University and at the University of California, Santa Cruz. According to a 400-page document leaked to NBC News in December, the government categorized both demonstrations as "threats" to national security. In addition to the NSA and CIFA, the gay groups asked for documents from the FBI, the CIA, the Justice Department's Office of Information and Privacy and the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review. IN THE STATES“It's not the public's meeting. It's the school board's meeting." -- Hampshire County, W.Va. School board attorney Norwood Bentley From the First Amendment Center THE DIFFERENCE AN ACCESS COUNSELOR MAKES: By any standard, Scott Reeder's one-man, six-month investigation into the many ways Illinois' "reformed" tenure system frustrates teacher accountability was an impressive piece of work. Reeder, bureau chief for the Small Newspaper Group in the Illinois capital of Springfield, brought public attention to an untold and shocking story. He created two large databases, one tracking the number of tenured teachers fired in the past 18 years, and other showing the job-performance evaluations of every Illinois school district -- something even the state board of education had never compiled. Reeder made all his data available to the public at a Web site, www.thehiddencostsoftenure.com. The six-day series also created debate in the state: It was praised by the Chicago Tribune and condemned by teacher union leaders, one of whom called the series "unfortunate, misleading, and in some cases flat-out wrong." But the most impressive feat Reeder pulled off during the investigative piece came at the very beginning of his research: He filed more than 1,500 requests for documents under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), with all 876 school districts in Illinois -- and achieved 100% compliance. That cooperation is all the more remarkable considering that when The Associated Press and 14 daily papers conducted a FOIA audit in 1999 by asking for public documents from school districts and other government bodies, the reporters came away empty-handed two-thirds of the time. "That's a relative term, 'cooperation,'" Reeder says with a laugh. In fact, when the reporter sent out his first mass mailing requesting the names of tenured teachers who had been placed on "remediation" (retraining, for unsatisfactory performance), only about half responded within the seven business days required by Illinois FOIA. A follow-up fax got about 50% of the original non-responders. "Then I started calling every district," Reeder says. At that point about 200 school districts were still ignoring him. With particularly stubborn districts, he began faxing the requests repeatedly, even on weekends. "Essentially, my strategy was to hound the heck out of them, call them every day, and say, ‘Hey, you're not in compliance with the law," Reeder says. But in Illinois, Reeder not only had the law on his side -- he had the nation's first-ever "public access counsel" working out of state Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office. (Indiana has a public access counsel that works as an independent agency.)... THE GREAT JIM KEAT!: James S. Keat has been named as the second recipient of the Maryland Delaware D.C. Distinguished Service Award for his dedication to open meetings and access to public records, as well as his long-term commitment to student journalists in the region. Jim will be honored on Nov. 4 at the MDDC Press Association’s Convention and Annual Meeting at the Tremont Grand in Baltimore, MD. The Distinguished Service Award was established in 2004 by the MDDC Board of Directors to annually recognize an MDDC volunteer whose extraordinary effort serving the organization has made a profound and lasting difference to MDDC and its members. Jim, a retired editor of The Baltimore Sun, has been passionate about Freedom of Information (FOI) issues since his days as an editor where, he notes, he was “frustrated by the inability of the people, not just newspapers, to find out what the government is doing.” He is an active member of the MDDC FOI Subcommittee and was a leader of two public records audits of Maryland agencies conducted by MDDC. "When it comes to passion for openness in government, our organization has no equal,” said Tom Marquardt, executive editor of The Capital and chairman of the MDDC FOI Subcommittee. “Jim was there in the 1980s when we needed an editorial leader to take on revisions to the Open Meetings Act. Even after he retired, he stayed involved by testifying at hearings and giving the rest of us his sage advice and insightful analysis.” Jim has been actively involved in many FOI issues over the years, including the public records audits, cameras in the courtroom and court records access. His other commitment in recent years has been to the Reese Cleghorn MDDC Internship Program and MDDC’s journalism education programs. He has served as the coordinator of the Internship program since its inception in 1999. That year there were four interns placed at member newspapers. Since then, the competitive program has steadily grown with 10 interns having been selected for 2005 to work at the region’s newspapers. “He’s devoted much of his energy to ensure that bright, young journalists get a chance to ply their skills in the Maryland, Delaware and D.C. area,” said MDDC President John League, publisher of The Herald-Mail. “His work has helped many a young reporter and editor, many of our member newspapers, and raised the prestige of the MDDC Press Association.” “It’s a fitting and deserved tribute,” added League. Jim is a former Baltimore Sun reporter, assistant managing editor and editorial page coordinator. He spent several years working for The Sun’s New Delhi bureau as a correspondent and as bureau chief. He founded and edited Perspective, the Sunday news analysis sections of The Sun, in the late 1960s... RADIO STATION USES FOI TO SHOW OVERBILLING: A D.C. government agency has been overcharging other city agencies by tens of thousands of dollars for vehicle repairs and equipment. An investigation reveals the D.C. Department of Public Works in one case charged another agency $6,000 to fix an air conditioner and $500 to change a fuse. WTOP Radio uncovered the over-billing through a Freedom of Information Act request. Records show the department has charged as much as $200 for an oil change. Department of Public Works Director Bill Howland says the agency has some problems. He says they will review policies and make some reimbursements. Some of the over-billing was caused by an automated charge of $10 on every work order filed. The agency also has a policy of marking up the cost of equipment by 25 percent for things like salt spreaders for icy roads. The director of the D.C. Department of Public Works is requesting an audit. DOG BITES MAN, NEWSPAPER RUNS PIT BULL OWNERS: A newspaper editor in Commerce City has put her own spin on the old axiom of "publish or perish." The specter of a fatal pit bull mauling prompted Kathy McIntyre, editor of the Commerce City Gateway, to print the addresses of every registered pit bull owner in the city. "If we have even one citizen attacked by a pit bull, that's enough for me," McIntyre said. She said she printed the 24 addresses for the "greater good of the community" and deliberately withheld names or phone numbers. "My philosophy and my reason for doing this is if we know where the pit bulls in Commerce City live, we can take measures to protect ourselves," McIntyre said. But several pit bull owners are incensed that their addresses were published in the Jan. 6 edition of the weekly paper, which is distributed to about half of the city's 30,000 residents. They say it's an invasion of their privacy, subjects them to possible intimidation and paints them all as owners of vicious dogs. Commerce City is among several metro-area municipalities that have banned all new pit bulls, while imposing severe restrictions on ones already there. MEDDLING WITH THE FOI OFFICE: The chairmen of the four County Councils are supporting creation of a five-member commission to oversee the state Office of Information Practices, which they say affords agencies no appeals process and gives its executive director too much power. But open-government advocates are skeptical of the push, which was introduced to the state Legislature in companion bills this week, calling it a possible move to strip the OIP of its powers. "This bill would strip the powers and duties that help citizens secure government records from a legal expert to a five-member (board) of volunteers appointed without any required expertise in an area of the law," said Beverly Keever, a University of Hawaii at Manoa journalism professor and a longtime open-government advocate. Honolulu City Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz disagreed, saying, "I think everyone has noted that some of the opinions that OIP has published are extreme. It's just one individual that interprets the law versus a group of people. And there's no one to appeal to." In a statement released yesterday, Big Island County Council Chairman Stacy Higa added that the commission would "help establish balance between the open-meetings law and the ability of the legislative body to perform the people's business." The Star Bulletin tells the story. Might this be the catalyst? ALABAMA PANEL RECCOMENDS VICTIM SECRECY: A state commission approved a move yesterday to conceal the identity of crime victims from the public in Alabama, a major change that an open-government advocate called a “huge step” backward, but supporters said was needed to help protect the innocent. Members of the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Commission voted to move most information that could identify a crime victim from the front page of police report forms — which is routinely available to the public — to the back page, which is confidential. Russell County Sheriff Tommy Boswell said the change was needed because most anyone with a computer can find a crime victim using the information currently available to the public: names, addresses, birth dates and Social Security numbers. “The world has changed in the 20 years since we last did this,” said Boswell, the commission chairman. Fayette County District Attorney Chris McCool, who also supported the change, said no one chooses to be a crime victim and many people don’t want their identities made public when they are victimized. “I have a real concern that the victim’s privacy be protected,” said McCool, speaking on behalf of the Alabama District Attorneys Association. The only dissenting vote came from Mike Coppage, director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety. Coppage said he feared hiding the names of crime victims would depersonalize crime by making its victims anonymous. The head of a group that opposes government secrecy criticized the decision. “It’s just a huge step backward in terms of government openness,” said Dale Harrison, chairman of the Alabama Center for Open Government. From the First Amendment Center INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTSAN FOI WAIFE: Supermodel Kate Moss has successfully demanded to see the transcript of an interview between Sun crime editor Mike Sullivan and Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Tarique Ghaffur. Moss's lawyers have applied under the Freedom of Information Act to see a transcript of the interview — possibly to help the supermodel defend potential drugs charges arising from a story in the Daily Mirror. Moss's PR handler is former Sun editor Stuart Higgins. During the interview in question, which took place on 4 January, Ghaffur outlined to Sullivan why the Met Police wanted Moss to return to the UK to face questioning about her alleged cocaine use. The interview was taped by a Scotland Yard press officer and formed the basis for a front page and inside spread in the following day's Sun. Sullivan said he was told by the Met last week that the interview transcript was being released under FOI. ON THE EDITORIAL PAGESThe Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle on Bush’s FOI executive order: “President Bush has to go some to look like a good guy on the issue of freedom of information about the workings of government. He, after all, has led the fight to keep a lot of what the Department of Homeland Security does under wraps, and has spent the past week trying to persuade the American public that he should have essentially limitless power to order secret wiretapping. How then to explain Bush's executive order for federal agencies to improve their compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, designate a chief FOIA officer, create a special desk for FOIA requests and to set up single points of contact within each agency for the press and public?...” J. Timoth Sprehe on the executive order: “...The new executive order is a puzzling document in the context of the Bush administration's performance on providing information to the public. Each presidential administration issues policy guidance on how to interpret FOIA. The important question is which way agencies should lean when in doubt — for or against public disclosure... In light of the administration's record of excessive secrecy, what are we to make of the new executive order on FOIA? In my judgment, the executive order is window dressing. It is another ploy to distract attention from how the administration consistently denies the public the information it has a right to see...” The Lansing (Mich.) State Journal on a dispute over criminal background records: “The Michigan Education Association can earn public sympathy and attention for its worry that a state criminal background check of school personnel might harm lives. But the MEA's legal claims are off-base and harmful to the public interest. Ingham County Judge Joyce Draganchuk was wrong to side with the MEA in blocking release of the state's finding on educators. She should reverse herself at a hearing Friday. Failing court action, the LSJ endorses a move by House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, to enact a state law forcing the release of these records. These criminal checks are clearly public documents. Under the state's Freedom of Information Act, the public is entitled to documents created on its behalf. FOIA, as it is known, does provide exemptions to release. However, as attorney Dawn Hertz of the Michigan Press Association told the Detroit News, concerns over accuracy aren't an exemption...” Subscribing to The ADVOCATE LISTSERVTo subscribe:
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