AAN News
Federal Shield Law Progressesnew
"It is past time for Congress to act" on a federal shield law, the New York Times editorializes. While saying the compromise bill introduced earlier this month "does not contain everything we would have liked," the Times notes that "passage of a federal shield law would be a major achievement." The bill may get a mark-up in the Senate Judiciary Committee as early as this week. AAN is a member of the Shield Law Coalition, and encourages its members in states with senators on the Judiciary Committee to call their senators in support of the bill.
The New York Times |
09-24-2007 9:53 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Human Trafficking Evokes Outrage, Little Evidencenew
The Washington Post |
09-23-2007 10:31 am |
Legal News
Tags: backpage.com
Senators Introduce Federal Shield Lawnew
The Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 "seeks to reconcile reporters' need to maintain confidentiality, in order to ensure that sources will speak openly and freely, with the public's right to effective law enforcement and fair trials," according to a press release. The bill was introduced Monday by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Richard Lugar (R-IN). "It is time to simplify the patchwork of court decisions and legislation that has grown over the last three decades," Specter says. "It is time for Congress to clear up the ambiguities journalists and the federal judicial system face in balancing the protections journalists need in providing confidential information to the public with the ability of the courts to conduct fair and accurate trials." The bill modifies earlier shield law legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), and in the Senate by Sen. Lugar and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).
U.S. Senator Arlen Specter Press Release |
09-12-2007 12:19 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Justice Dept. Argues the Office of Administration Isn't Subject to FOIAnew
TPMmuckraker.com |
08-23-2007 4:17 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial
ABA Withdraws Proposed Criminal Justice Records Resolutionsnew
The American Bar Association's Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions has withdrawn proposed resolutions which sought to limit public access to criminal justice system records, according to a press release issued by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "We appreciate that the commission heard our concerns and took a second look at the dire effect these recommendations would have had on transparency in government," Reporters Committee executive director Lucy Dalglish says.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press |
08-15-2007 2:30 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Senate Unanimously Passes FOIA Reform Billnew
On Friday, when the Senate finally got to vote on the OPEN Government Act of 2007 (S. 849), they unanimously approved the bill and advanced it to the House. The bill had been blocked from a floor vote for months by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who was acting as a legislative conduit of the Department of Justice, which had several objections to the FOIA reforms. The legislation would be the first major reform to FOIA in more than a decade if passed by the House, which already approved a similar bill (H.R. 1309) by an overwhelming vote of 308-117. "FOIA will still be far from perfect with these changes, but they do provide important new tools that will help requesters get public information faster and hold agencies more accountable when they don't comply with the law," says Dave Tomlin, associate general counsel for The Associated Press.
The Associated Press via Forbes |
08-06-2007 4:07 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
House Committee Approves Shield Law Billnew
The House Judiciary Committee yesterday passed H.R. 2102, a bill that would provide federal protection for journalists' confidential sources. A press release issued by a coalition of more than 40 media companies and organizations that support the measure, including AAN, applauded the committee's action. “The Free Flow of Information Act establishes important ground rules that balance the public interest in both the free flow of information and the fair administration of justice," says Paul Boyle, senior vice president of public policy at the Newspaper Association of America. "By enacting a federal shield law, the Congress can ensure that all parties -- journalists, sources, prosecutors, civil litigants and courts alike -- can rely on consistent and well-articulated standards of procedure.”
Media Coalition press release |
08-02-2007 6:55 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Reporters Committee Issues Alert on ABA Resolutionnew
The American Bar Association is considering resolutions that would "drastically limit public access to criminal justice system records," according to a press release issued by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. One of the ABA recommendations would urge federal, state and local governments to limit access to closed criminal-case files that didn't result in a conviction; another seeks to seal conviction records "after passage of a specified period of law-abiding conduct." The ABA's House of Delegates will vote on the resolution Aug. 13-14. The Reporters Committee urges news outlets to report and comment on the matter in advance to make ABA delegates aware of media and public concerns.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press |
07-31-2007 11:29 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Arkansas Times & Others File Suit Against Arkansas Prisons Chiefnew
The alt-weekly joins local chapters of the ACLU and the Society for Professional Journalists in suing the director of the Arkansas Department of Corrections for full access to executions, the AP reports. Arkansas only allows media or the public to watch the period of the execution after the inmate is already strapped to the gurney until right after (s)he dies, not as intravenous tubes are inserted and removed from the inmate. "The public has a First Amendment right to view executions from the moment the condemned is escorted into the execution chamber," the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court, reads.
Associated Press via the International Herald Tribune |
07-26-2007 9:26 am |
Legal News
Tags: Arkansas Times
More on FOIA Reform Bill & Senator Jon Kyl's Holdnew
"Senator Kyl agrees that FOIA needs to be modernized, though the bill in its current form has a series of unintended consequences that need to be repaired," the senator's press secretary Ryan Patmintra explains to the New York Times. As we've reported previously, Sen. Kyl (R-AZ) is the one person standing in the way of the passage of the OPEN Government Act of 2007, which would reform the way government agencies respond to FOIA requests. Last month, Cox News Service reported that the bill was in a "legislative black hole" due to Kyl's hold. "Don't expect a huge uproar if the bill doesn't make it. With an election coming, data secrecy isn't the sexiest issue," writes the Times' David Carr. "But many of those 'Holy cow' newspaper articles you read have their roots in the banal bureaucracy of government information." AAN encourages you to help get these important FOIA reforms passed -- to learn how, click here.
The New York Times |
07-23-2007 10:25 am |
Legal News
E&P: The Bush Administration is Playing a 'FOIA Shell Game'new
Mark Fitzgerald dissects Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' recent rosy report claiming that federal agencies have improved their response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The fact that "more than half of the agencies -- 54 of them! -- actually met their mostly modest milestone goals on time" was heralded by Gonzales as a sign of "diligent and measurable progress," Fitzgerald says. "If my youngest kid brought home a report card from St. Thecla Elementary School with a mark of 59, the next time he touched his PlayStation controls he'd have to wipe away the cobwebs." Fitzgerald argues that FOIA backlogs would be reduced by the OPEN Government Act, currently stalled in the Senate thanks to a hold by Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ), who says he is acting on concerns raised by the Justice Department. "The same Alberto Gonzales who is trying to sell a rosy picture of a White House intent on making FOIA more accessible is sabotaging the very law that would accomplish that," Fitzgerald concludes. AAN encourages you to get involved in efforts to get these important FOIA reforms passed. To learn how, click here.
Editor & Publisher |
07-12-2007 2:28 pm |
Legal News
FOIA Backlog Keeps Drug and Food Risks Secretnew
Bloomberg News |
06-28-2007 9:11 am |
Legal News
One Senator Stands in Way of FOIA Reform Billnew
Readers of this site know that the senator in question is Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who has become a one-man roadblock to the passage of the OPEN Government Act of 2007. "With just one objection, the bill went from 'hot line' status to a legislative black hole," Cox News reports. "It is a shocking story that goes far beyond this particular bill," says Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. "It really illustrates how Congress has become dysfunctional." Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has not responded to a request to allow two hours of debate on the measure. Without McConnell's blessing, the bill will not see debate -- or a vote -- in the Senate. AAN encourages you to contact your senators' offices and urge them to tell McConnell to allow the OPEN Government Act to get to the floor for debate and a vote. For other ways to help get these important FOIA reforms passed, click here.
Cox News Service via Austin American-Statesman |
06-26-2007 9:19 am |
Legal News
Tags: Management
Open Government Advocates Slam DOJ Report on FOIA Reformnew
Government Executive |
06-26-2007 11:25 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Contact Your Senator to Pass FOIA Reform Bill, Urges AAN
The OPEN Government Act of 2007, which would put teeth into the Freedom of Information Act, is being blocked by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ). The only way to overcome Kyl's hold and to get the OPEN Government Act passed is to convince his Senate colleagues to put pressure on the Republican Senate leadership to allow a vote to be scheduled. And they're only going to do that if they hear from their constituents on the matter. AAN is asking member papers to get involved: to contact the office of both of your senators and urge them to tell Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to allow the OPEN Government Act to get to the floor for a vote. Ask your senators to become co-sponsors of the bill. Cover this important issue in your papers, and encourage your readers to call their senators with the same message. Richard Karpel, executive director of AAN, underscores the importance of this issue: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve FOIA."
(FULL STORY)
AAN Staff |
06-21-2007 3:54 pm |
Legal News
