Newsflash: Rockweed Not a Fish
One of the many worries that I have as a school attorney is when school board members use their e-mail account to discuss board business. As you may know, such conduct can run afoul of Connecticut’s Freedom of Information...more
Recently, the Public Access Counselor (PAC) issued a new binding opinion concerning the Open Meetings Act (OMA). In the opinion, the PAC determined that three city council members did not violate the OMA when they exchanged...more
Last week, the Illinois Appellate Court issued three separate opinions addressing the scope of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The opinions provide additional guidance related to what constitutes a reasonable...more
Since a 2013 Illinois Appellate Court decision, City of Champaign v. Madigan, Illinois public bodies have known that three categories of emails and text messages sent to or from personal technology devices are “public...more
During my recent time working at the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, I worked with the Federal Freedom of Information Act, which does not contain an unduly burdensome exemption....more
Is Your Police Department Ready for Body Cameras? - Police use of force has been heavily scrutinized for more than a year. In May 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it was providing $20 million in grants...more
In June, the Public Access Counselor (PAC) issued a non-binding opinion holding that board members of a school district did not violate the Open Meetings Act (OMA) when partaking in intermittent private email exchanges...more