John Washburn learned that the Texas governor’s office automatically destroys virtually all of its emails every seven days. A cynic might conclude that this policy is an attempt by the State to avoid the embarassment of open records disclosure required by law.
Mr. Washburn responded by writing a computer program that automatically requests emails every […]

People with felony criminal records would be able to more quickly shield that information from prospective employers under legislation filed today by Gov. Deval Patrick.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino hailed Patrick’s proposals as “much needed.”
“Ex-offenders often have little or no support upon release, in effect giving them life sentences by denying them opportunities for […]

The State of Oregon has placed criminally insane sex offenders in a residence at 177 N. 29th Ave., Cornelius. The program run by Luke-Dorf, a nonprofit Tigard-based mental-health provider, handles only sex offenders of the class “guilty except for insanity.”
Jerry Farstad, incarcerated for sodomy and sexual penetration with a foreign object,was quoted as saying […]

In one of his last decisions of the year on Monday, December 31, 2007, President Bush signed into law the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reform bill (S. 2488).
For the first time, there will be a penalty for agencies who do not comply with the FOIA’s time limits.
Those of us who make open […]