Brechner News

University of North Carolina professor David Ardia argues that the public’s right to access government information should be a constitutional right—not just a statutory one. 

In a recent opinion, the Washington D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed that the district’s mayor’s office must publish agency budget requests under the city’s Freedom of Information Act, and that failure to proactively post the records could result in punishment. The case, District of Columbia v. Terris, Pravlik & Millian challenged more than two decades of noncompliance with a 2004 D.C. Council mandate requiring publication online of pre-budget materials

A survey of investigative journalists found that limited access to government records and sources remains the greatest challenge to holding public officials accountable. 

In Minnesota, a Ramsey County judge has ordered the city of St. Paul to pay a resident more than $30,000 in damages and $750 in court costs for violating Minnesota’s open records law, according to reporting from KSTP. 

A coalition of 40 California newsrooms has published a study examining the challenges of large-scale public records requests. The California Reporting Project developed a tool, RequestAtlas, to manage unstructured data obtained through public record requests related to police use of force and misconduct. 

A Fulton County Superior Court judge in Georgia has ruled that the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) must release 15 unredacted public records related to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, known as “Cop City,” within 30 days. The records include board meeting agendas, budget documents, and emails with Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. 

A May study titled “Lessons from the Dissolution of Mexico’s Information Commission” examines the March closure of Mexico’s national transparency commission.

Access to public records continues to vary widely by state, with Alabama ranking last in compliance, according to a recent analysis.

A new article in the Seattle University Law Review by former Brechner FOI Project Director Frank LoMonte looks at what is described as a "hole in the heart" of federal and state freedom-of-information laws: The absence of legal requirements to actually retain high-value records – or any meaningful penalty for failing to do so.

Newly released documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was aware of serious health risks following the February 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment and controlled burn in East Palestine, Ohio. 

A new analysis in the Washington University Law Review finds that state address confidentiality programs (ACPs) meant to protect domestic violence survivors are often ineffective—and in some states, nonexistent. 

For nearly 30 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released an annual report tracking the country’s greenhouse gas emissions—until this year.