Legal News

"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.

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.

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.

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."

Yesterday, the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance banning freestanding news boxes from the city center and surrounding neighborhoods, the Dallas Morning News reports. Existing news boxes will be replaced by eight-window modular newsracks and standardized news boxes. The cost for publishers to distribute in the newsracks will be $179 per year for each newsrack, according to the Morning News. Currently, publishers pay a $5 licensing fee per news box. Placement in the newsracks will be determined by lotteries. Dallas Observer publisher Stuart Folb was quick to criticize the ordinance, saying "an unlucky publisher could be eliminated from the marketplace." Folb also hinted at litigation against the city if this "results in unreasonable restrictions on a publisher's ability to distribute its newspaper."

Last week, at the House Judiciary Committee's first hearing on HR 2102, the Federal Shield Law, a Justice Department official reiterated the Bush administration's position against such a bill, the AP reports. "History has demonstrated that the protections already in place, including the department's own rigorous internal review of media subpoena requests, are sufficient," Assistant Attorney General Rachel Brand told the Judiciary Committee. Free press advocates, including New York Times columnist William Safire, testified on behalf of the bill. "The movement to force journalists to reveal their sources is an attempt to turn the press into an arm of the law," Safire said. The AP reports that a major sticking point remains the legislation's definition of "journalist," which now includes bloggers. Spokespeople for House and Senate Democratic leaders say they like the bill but have no plans to advance it, according to the AP. Currently, 32 states and the District of Columbia have shield laws in place. AAN is a member of an alliance of over 40 media companies and professional organizations that has issued statements of support for the legislation.

The Republican from Arizona was unmasked following an ultimately successful campaign by the Society of Professional Journalists to publicly identify the senator who placed a secret hold on the OPEN Government Act. The OGA would improve the government's response to public requests for information under the federal Freedom of Information Act, and is supported by AAN and dozens of other groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the conservative Heritage Foundation. The bill has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 308-117 and was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kyl tells the Associated Press that he'll continue to block a vote of the full Senate until the Justice Department's "uncharacteristically strong" objections to the bill are assuaged. His Republican colleague on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), disagrees: "This is an important, bipartisan issue that deserves the consideration of the full Senate," Cornyn says. AAN encourages its members to call their senators to let them know that you support the OPEN Government Act and oppose Sen. Kyl's obstructionist tactics.

An unknown Republican senator has placed a secret hold on the Open Government Act, a bill supported by AAN that would improve the Freedom of Information Act. Although the OGA has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 308-117 and was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, this anonymous supporter of government secrecy is preventing the bill from reaching the Senate floor for a vote. AAN strongly encourages its members to join the Society of Professional Journalist's crowdsourcing effort to unmask the secretive senator.