Category Archives: Freedom of Information Act

The Law of Access to Government

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“The Law of Access to Government”

RICHARD J. PELTZ, University of Georgia School of Law

This is the only casebook geared entirely to the study of the law of access to government, or freedom of information law, in the United States. The book takes a multistate approach, familiarizing students with norms of state and federal open records and open meetings laws, and exposing students to statutes, regulations, and cases at both state and federal levels. Though the book is designed principally to employ the law-school case method of study, it is suitable as well for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in journalism schools. Extensive notes follow primary-source materials raising legal and policy questions, and providing ample fodder for class discussion. Graphic elements drawn from public-domain sources enhance the flow of the text. Coverage is organized in three parts – Access to the Judiciary, Access to the Executive, and Principal Issues in Access Law – and in ten chapters: (1) Criminal Proceedings, (2) Juries, (3) Court Records, (4) The FOIAs, (5) Law Enforcement and Corrections, (6) Homeland Security and the War on Terror, (7) Open Records, (8) Open Meetings, (9) Electronic Access, and (10) Scope of Laws. Table of Contents available for download.

Source:  LSN Information Privacy Law Vol. 2 No. 44,  11/18/2009

FOIA Hearing

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“The secrecy reflex at some agencies remains firmly in place,” said Tom Curley.

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing (audio) on, “Advancing Freedom of Information in the New Era of Responsibility.”

The witness list included (with names linked to statements):  The Honorable Thomas J. Perrelli (Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice),  Miriam Nisbet (Director,  Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration), Tom Curley (President and CEO, The Associated Press, Representing the Sunshine in Government Initiative), and  Meredith Fuchs (General Counsel, The National Security Archive ).

For coverage of this hearing, see stories in the AP, Washington Post, and ProPublica.

From the AP story:

“[Senators] Leahy and Cornyn have introduced legislation [S.612] that would require any such exemptions included in legislation to be clearly stated, rather than buried. The legislation has passed the Senate twice but has not yet been considered by the House.”


Malamud quoted in Washington Post

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Our friend Carl Malamud is quoted in today’s Washington Post:

Bill Would End FOIA Shield for Smithsonian
Sen. Grassley Says Goal Is Greater Openness

By James V. Grimaldi and Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 19, 2008; C01

A longtime critic of the Smithsonian Institution introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate this week that would wipe out the national museum complex’s exemption from the Freedom of Information Act and the Sunshine Act.

. . .

Carl Malamud, who founded Media.org, which advocates for disclosure of public records, said his experience filing FOIAs concerning the institution shows the policy leaves “too much arbitrary discretion” to Smithsonian administrators. “Grassley’s bill would clarify that the Smithsonian belongs to all of us,” he said, “and is not some private institution which can do as it will.”

. . .