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This week’s FOIA round-up: USDA adopts a new “hands-off” animal welfare policy, ICE is putting mentally ill migrants in solitary confinement, and an L.A. official was paid by an agency he was lobbying

by Julia Rock and Ava Sasani

August 23, 2019

In this week’s FOIA round-up, the number of animal welfare citations issued by the USDA has decreased by 65% under the Trump Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is placing record numbers of migrants in solitary confinement, many of whom are mentally ill, L.A. official Michael LoGrande was lobbying private developers while serving as the head of the city’s Planning Agency, and the Tennessee Court of Appeals rules that state agencies still have to release public records that are part of criminal investigations.

This week’s FOIA round-up: Alaskans sue Interior for oil drilling information, data shows federal aid favors the wealthiest farmers, and Los Angeles pension trustees spend big on international getaway

by Ava Sasani

August 02, 2019

In this week’s FOIA round-up, Alaska natives sued the Trump Administration for concealing information regarding oil drilling, an environmental advocacy group shows that the bulk of U.S. farm aid goes to wealthy farmers, and members of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement draw public scrutiny after going on pricey international vacations.

New bill in California aims to tighten up animal research reporting at the state level

by Jessie Gomez

April 04, 2019

According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, as many as 100 million animals are used in U.S. laboratories every year. In order to have a better understanding into these practices in California, Assemblymember Brian Maienschein introduced new legislation to provide added transparency into animal research reporting.

Upcoming Supreme Court case could hand broadened FOIA censorship powers to corporations

by Michael Morisy

January 15, 2019

Does your right to know which companies are receiving your tax dollars outweigh those companies’ rights to competitive secrets? That’s the question at stake in an upcoming Supreme Court case set to be heard in April, and the result could either cement the public’s right to know or severely restrict the ability to track the flow of tax dollars into private companies.

FOIAing the Trump Administration: After a year, aspects of Trump appointees’ ethics agreements begin to expire

by Frank Matt

January 24, 2018

Trump has been in office for one year, which means some of his earliest appointees will soon be free of certain promises in their ethics agreements. This week, we take a look at how you can investigate Trump appointees’ ethical obligations using public records.