Tennessee Legislature Seeks to Shield Information in Traffic Accident Reports
Pending legislation in Tennessee seeks to redact all personal information in traffick accident reports (e.g., names of drivers, passengers and witnesses). Read more here. Continue reading
California Legislature Attempting (Again) to Shield Divorce Records from Disclosure
A legislative committee has approved Senate Bill 1015 which proposes to limit public access to divorce records in California if the divorce court finds that withholding the information of parties outweighs the public's right of access to the information. Read more here. Continue reading
Open records backers lose twice
Florida House members voted to extend an existent law to keep business deals secret and to promote another bill that would conceal the identities of people licensed to carry concealed weapons.
Read more here.
Continue readingOhio Supreme Court Rules Lead Risk Reports Subject to State Open Records Law Despite HIPAA
The Cincinnati Enquirer filed suit to obtain lead-risk-assessment reports maintained by the city health department and lead-citation notices issued to property owners of residence occupied by children whose blood indicated elevated lead levels. The Supreme Court held that the reports did not contain "protected health information" under Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and even if HIPAA did apply, the reports would be subject to disclosure under the state law exception to HIPAA privacy rule. Read the Ohio Supreme Court opinion below (.pdf). Continue reading
National Archives and Records Administration puts over 400,000 State Dept docs online
The National Archives and Records Administration is making available online, for the first time, over 400,000 State Department records and telegrams from 1973 and 1974. According to NARA, the documents—from State’s Central Foreign Policy Files database—consist of historical telegrams, index references to paper documents created in 1974, and withdrawal notices for telegrams and documents that could not be made public for national security reasons. Read the story here. Continue reading