Judge awards $186 in FOIA case against city of Blytheville (Miss.)

From Blytheville Courier News:

Second Judicial Circuit Court Judge Pam Honeycutt awarded former Blytheville City Councilwoman Carol White a total of $186.37 in her Freedom of Information Act case against the city of Blytheville Monday afternoon in Mississippi County Circuit Court.

Honeycutt gave the city 60 days to pay the amount, which includes a $165 filing fee and $21.37 in mailing costs.

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Iowa Supreme Court rules in favor of UI in records request lawsuit

From The Daily Iowan:

The Iowa Supreme Court on July 13 ruled that the University of Iowa is not obligated to turn over student records to the Iowa City Press-Citizen related to a 2007 sexual-assault investigation.

The court ruled 4-3 that the university does not need to hand over student records to the newspaper, after the UI had been forced to hand more than hundreds of other documents following the lawsuit.

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State Bar of Texas sues Attorney General Greg Abbott over records in investigation into misused funds

From Texas Watchdog:

The State Bar of Texas is suing the office of Attorney General Greg Abbott over an open records decision earlier this month that gives a legal trade magazine access to records detailing an internal investigation by the state bar.

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Florida newspaper files lawsuit against Mayor Alvin Brown’s office for failing to release public records

From Jacksonville.com:

The Florida Times-Union has filed a lawsuit against Jacksonville seeking "declaratory relief" from the Circuit Court in obtaining public records from local government officials.

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State Supreme Court sides with Ohio State University about open records

From 10TV:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Some critics said on Tuesday that they were worried that it could be easier for universities to hide scandals after the state Supreme Court sided with Ohio State University about open records.

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An expert said that the Supreme Court's decision would make it harder to get records in the future.


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Connecticut newspaper files FOI complaints against Board of Education

From The Westerly Sun

N. STONINGTON — The Westerly Sun has filed a Freedom of Information Act complaint against the Board of Education, alleging two violations. The complaint alleges that the board failed to give the public the required 24-hour notice of a meeting, and that its members cast anonymous votes on paper ballots.

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NFOIC’s FOI Friday for March 16, 2012

A few open government and FOIA news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier. Be sure to check out Sunshine Week 2012 News while you're at it.

Government confirms it has secret interpretation of Patriot Act Spy Powers

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