Brechner FOI Project

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 Arizona Law Review article, Ardia writes that access to information is essential for democratic self-governance and should be recognized as a constitutional safeguard…

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…

A survey of investigative journalists found that limited access to government records and sources remains the greatest challenge to holding public officials accountable.  The survey, conducted for the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability at the University of Florida, gathered responses from 51 investigative reporters and editors across the U.S.…

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.  The case stems from a public records request submitted by attorney and…

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.  The study found that early attempts to…

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…

A May study titled “Lessons from the Dissolution of Mexico’s Information Commission” examines the March closure of Mexico’s national transparency commission. Researchers Gregory Michener, Margaret Kwoka, and others analyzed the shutdown and identified lack of public engagement as a key factor.  The commission, once regarded as a global model for…

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. In…

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.  According to a lawsuit by the Government Accountability Project against FEMA and…

As public records requests continue to rise, a new paper in AI & Society argues that artificial intelligence could play a key role in helping government agencies manage the growing demand.  Jason R. Baron, a professor at the University of Maryland and member of the National Archivist’s FOIA Advisory Committee,…

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has filed a lawsuit against Flint Community Schools for failing to comply with Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act. The legal complaint comes after the school district ignored a Feb. 17 records request for more than 50 business days—well past the legal deadline.  The request…

An experiment published in Government Information Quarterly found that public record requesters who remind record custodians of the public records law are more likely to get the records they seek, particularly when asking for large amounts of data. The researchers emailed record requests to 800 randomly selected cities in Slovakia,…