In 1966, Congress enacted the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to create a legal regime under which the American public could gain access to information about its government’s activities. In keeping with Justice Brandeis’s observation that “sunlight is the best disinfectant,” FOIA has become an invaluable tool in forcing information of national interest into the open, and of revealing instances of government waste, fraud, and abuse.
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Department of Homeland Security documents obtained last month reveal details of incidents in which transgender travelers were subjected to heightened scrutiny when passing through airport security checkpoints.
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Read More… from Exclusive: Transgender travelers singled out in TSA screenings, docs show
From Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Today EFF posted several thousand pages of new drone license records and a new map that tracks the location of done flights across the United States.
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Read More… from Newly Released Drone Records Reveal Extensive Military Flights in US
From Global Research:
Washington, D.C. (Dec 7, 2012) – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit yesterday rejected the CIA’s attempt to shortcut the National Security Archive’s lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the last still-secret history of the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.
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Read More… from U.S. Court of Appeals rejects CIA’s motion to squash lawsuit on Bay of Pigs history
From The American Civil Liberties Union:
On October 23, 2012, the ACLU filed Freedom of Information Act requests with five federal agencies seeking records related to the federal government’s domestic use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) – better known as drones – as well as plans for the future rollout of drones in the United States.
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The FOIA requests ask questions including:
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From First Amendment Coalition's Peter Scheer:
In the world of secret information about powerful people, there are two sets of documents in especially high demand right now. First are Mitt Romney's undisclosed tax returns. You already know about those.
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From National Security Counselors:
National Security Counselors, a DC area public interest organization, is accepting applications for a legal intern for the Fall 2012 semester.
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Read More… from National Security Counselors accepting applications for legal intern
From NPR:
Last week's assignment of two federal prosecutors to investigate disclosures of national security information might have been the first shot in a new war on leaks. The director of national intelligence is expected soon to announce new measures to fight unauthorized disclosures, and some members of Congress say it could be time for new anti-leaking laws.
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But advocates of open government fear an overreaction.
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Read More… from Does leaking secrets damage national security?
