Local Oregon Newspaper Wins Major Public Records Battle
The Malheur Enterprise, a local newspaper, requested documents last October as part of its ongoing investigation into whether a state legislator was using his official position to help his private business. On February 5th, the county's district attorney ordered the government agency to disclose the unredacted documents.
Buzzfeed Reporter Wins Appeal to Unseal Judicial Records Authorizing Government Surveillance
"The records at issue here are not nailed into a nondescript crate, stored deep in a sprawling, uncataloged warehouse. Production may be time-consuming, but time-consuming is not the same thing as impossible,” the D.C. appeals court wrote.
Knight First Amendment Institute Sues CDC For Coronavirus Communication Records
Knight First Amendment Institute, a leading press advocacy group, filed a lawsuit on April 2nd against the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) seeking the immediate release of documents related to policies governing CDC employees’ ability to speak to the press and the public about matters relating to the novel coronavirus.
BuzzFeed Sues CDC and FEMA for Failing to Comply to FOIA Request for Coronavirus-Related Materials
On March 13th, BuzzFeed reporter Jason Leopold filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and three other federal agencies over COVID-19 related records.
FOIA Suit Filed Over Secret Government Database
An NBC affiliate in San Diego and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a suit under the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against four federal agencies. The complaint filed against the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Citizenship and Immigration Services seeks to obtain records requested in a March, 2019 FOIA concerning an alleged secret database the federal government had created on journalists covering immigration issues at the US and Mexico border.
Knight Institute Sues Intelligence Agencies Over Release Of Records on Khashoggi Killing
The Knight First Amendment Institute is suing U.S. intelligence agencies to learn if they complied with a "duty to warn" journalist Jamal Khashoggi about threats to his life. When an intelligence agency becomes aware of a threat of kidnapping or murder, it is obligated to inform the intended victim, and document and maintain records of its actions.
First Amendment Coalition Sues DOJ Over Seizure Of Reporter’s Records
The First Amendment Coalition filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice in federal court in San Francisco alleging that the DOJ violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by failing to provide the documents related to the secret collection of a journalist's phone and email records.