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Responding to high-profile cases in which law enforcement agencies’ failure to timely inform the public about police shootings and aggravated public distrust, the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information is issuing guidelines for agencies to consider in informing the public when officers use force. The report, “Transparency and Media Relations in High-Profile Police Cases,” was prepared at the request of the King County, Wash., Office of Law Enforcement Oversight (“OLEO”), an independent oversight entity serving the county, which encompasses the Seattle area. “We’re excited to have the opportunity to work cooperatively with a forward-thinking law enforcement agency on formulating a set of best practices that will minimize friction in interactions with journalists in high-pressure situations,” said Frank D. LoMonte, UF media-law professor and director of the Brechner Center. “When a newsworthy event occurs, people are bombarded with rumor and speculation on social media. Pushing out reliable information promptly, and keeping that information regularly updated, is the best antidote.”
Brechner Center
A box filled with 1,500 pages of paper awaits pickup at the Peru (Illinois) City Clerk’s Office. It’s been there since late April and is the result of one of the nearly 60 Freedom of Information Act Requests fielded this year by the city of Peru. “We’ve been inundated with FOIAs lately,” said Peru city clerk Dave Bartley. “Most of them are pretty easy, but the FOIAs that cast a very wide net are the ones that are time consuming.” While the internet means more requests coming in, city officials said it also helps quickly fulfill requests. “A way a municipality can help itself is to have a large volume of searchable documents on its website,” Bartley said. Willingness to engage in a dialogue with requesters is important too, city officials said, especially for putting a finer point on expansive searches.
News Tribune
Three former aides to Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt confirmed to congressional investigators that the EPA delayed producing emails and other government documents sought by members of the public through public records requests by choosing instead to respond to old petitions made during the Obama administration first. The so-called “first in, first out” tactic for requests made through the Freedom of Information Act is yet another example of the EPA restricting what records make their way into the public eye since Pruitt has taken office. That public records policy was described in a letter sent Monday to Pruitt by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, which requested documents from the administrator.
Santa Fe New Mexican
Puerto Rico's government complied with a court order and released new records Tuesday of deaths following Hurricane Maria. The data reveal that there were 1,427 more deaths in the last four months of 2017 than the average over the four years before. The new count comes as legal questions swirl around the official death toll and reports that hundreds of bodies remain unclaimed in the island's main morgue. The Puerto Rican government maintains an official death toll of 64, but as early as December Gov. Ricardo Rossello conceded the count might be inaccurate. He has said he will not raise the official figure until George Washington University completes a study on the data, according to The Associated Press. The order to release the records came in response to a lawsuit filed by CNN and Puerto Rico's Center for Investigative Journalism.
NPR
The U.S. Department of Justice went on the attack against the University of Michigan's free speech code Monday, saying universities and colleges haven't done a good job of creating true freedom of speech on their campuses. "In recent years, many institutions of higher education have failed to uphold these freedoms, and free speech has come under attack on campuses across the country," the Justice Department said in a statement of interest filed in federal court. The statement was filed in a suit brought by a group looking to bring down U-M's speech code.
Governing
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