Letter, signed by 20 organizations, supports bill to modernize court case management system

The National Freedom of Information Coalition and 20 other organizations signed a Dec. 6, 2021, letter, urging Senate Judiciary Committee leaders to support the Open Courts Act.  The letter supports the bill as a way to modernize the judicial branch’s case management system, known as PACER, in ways that would improve public access. …

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Letter, signed by NFOIC, calls for oversight hearing on agency compliance with FOIA

The National Freedom of Information Coalition joined more than two dozen organizations in calling for a hearing on federal agency compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. An April 7, 2021, letter to leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee said a hearing was necessary to understand FOIA implementation by the Trump Administration and to seek…

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Martin seeking to change FOIA autopsy rules

Following a 2014 decision concerning the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by the S.C. Supreme Court, exempting autopsy results from the information available to the public, Sen. Larry Martin is looking to change legislation.

Martin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will also be chair of a subcommittee that will be debating a change to the legislation of record, putting in place measures to insure “the public’s right to information,” albeit with some restrictions applied to protect the privacy of individuals.

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LEAHY & CORNYN PRESS FOR CIA TO RETAIN EMAIL RECORDS

Responding to reports that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is seeking to adopt a new email retention policy that would allow the agency to purge thousands of emails from nearly all of its employees, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) are urging the archivist of the United States to reject the proposal that undermines oversight of the agency.

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