Category Archives: Freedom of Information Law

Stephen Colbert FOIA LOL!

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c The Word – Locked and Loathed comedycentral.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Mark Sanford Here’s an entertaining treat to close out Sunshine Week on the Connecticut Freedom of Information Law … Continue reading

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Bill to delay impact of online notice law moves through the General Assembly

I’ve written several times this week about Connecticut’s new law that requires municipalities post meeting notices and minutes on their websites. But if you don’t like the new law, you should remember that Connecticut’s Freedom of Information law is like … Continue reading

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How a new law and “gotcha people” forced one Conn. town to shutdown its website

Last week, I told you about a great website created by the State of Utah that provides a centralized source for browsing and searching public meeting records for just about every state and local government entity.  I also mentioned that … Continue reading

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Connecticut tied for 37th in Sunshine Week survey on availability of online records

The University of Connecticut’s college basketball teams may be number one seeds during March Madness, but the 2009 Survey of State Government Information Online ranks Connecticut a lowly 37th for online access to public records.  Connecticut was tied with Massachusetts … Continue reading

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Read a Sunshine Week article that I wrote that appears in today’s Connecticut Post

On Friday, I told you about Utah’s Public Meeting Notice website.  If you want to read more on the topic, I wrote an article that appears in today’s Connecticut Post about how Connecticut should follow Utah’s lead. Update: My article … Continue reading

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Sunshine Week is here!

As I mentioned two weeks ago, this week is Sunshine Week, an annual initiative led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors.  Sunshine Week seeks to highlight the importance of open government and freedom of information.  To start the week … Continue reading

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Can Connecticut learn something about open government from Utah?

I’ve mentioned before that a great way to learn about trends in open government and freedom of information law is read other FOIA blogs.  Well, here’s another example.  The Allied Law Group’s Open-Government Blog, which covers the topic for the … Continue reading

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OMG! Are text messages public records?

A recent case in Michigan has raised an interesting question, are government officials’ text messages  public records? In the Michigan case, the Detriot Free Press requested copies of text messages between former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and an aide with … Continue reading

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Fillable PDF Appearance Form from the Conn. Freedom of Information Commission

Today’s post is just for attorneys.  Doesn’t that make you feel special, my fellow members of the bar? Many agencies in Connecticut do not require that you file a formal appearance like those required by our state and federal courts.  … Continue reading

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Online FOIA Letter Generator

A colleague from the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association recently pointed out that there is an online freedom of information request letter generator.  The requests that the site produces are rough around the edges, but in many cases letters from the … Continue reading

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