JUPITERASC
Well-known member
'….Bureaucrats in Ferguson, Missouri,
responding to requests under state's Sunshine Act to turn over government files
about fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown,
are charging nearly 10 times the cost of some of their own employees' salaries
before they will agree to release records.
The move discourages journalists and civil rights groups
from investigating the shooting and its aftermath.
The city has demanded high fees to produce copies of records
that, under Missouri law, it could give away free if it determined the material was in public's interest to see.
Instead, in some cases, city has demanded high fees with little explanation or cost breakdown.....' http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ferguson-fee-to-turn-over-brown-files-10-times-a-city-workers-salary/
'…...It billed The Associated Press $135 an hour
- for nearly a day's work - merely to retrieve a handful of email accounts since the shooting.
That fee compares with an entry-level, hourly salary of $13.90 in the city clerk's office,
and it didn't include costs to review the emails or release them.
Price-gouging for government files is one way that local, state and federal agencies have responded
to requests for potentially embarrassing information they may not want released.
Open records laws are designed to give the public access to government records at little or no cost,
and have historically exposed waste, wrongdoing and corruption....'
'…."The first line of defense is to make the requester go away.
Charging exorbitant fees to simply cut and paste is a popular tactic." said Rick Blum,
who coordinates the Sunshine in Government Initiative,
a coalition of media groups that advocates for open government.
Other governments also have demanded spectacular fees.
During 2008 presidential campaign,
news organizations asked for emails belonging to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin
former Republican vice presidential nominee.
The Anchorage Press said officials at first wanted $6,500 in search fees,
leading the newspaper to withdraw its request.
Thousands of pages of those emails were ultimately provided to news organizations for about
$725 in copying charges....'
responding to requests under state's Sunshine Act to turn over government files
about fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown,
are charging nearly 10 times the cost of some of their own employees' salaries
before they will agree to release records.
The move discourages journalists and civil rights groups
from investigating the shooting and its aftermath.
The city has demanded high fees to produce copies of records
that, under Missouri law, it could give away free if it determined the material was in public's interest to see.
Instead, in some cases, city has demanded high fees with little explanation or cost breakdown.....' http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ferguson-fee-to-turn-over-brown-files-10-times-a-city-workers-salary/
'…...It billed The Associated Press $135 an hour
- for nearly a day's work - merely to retrieve a handful of email accounts since the shooting.
That fee compares with an entry-level, hourly salary of $13.90 in the city clerk's office,
and it didn't include costs to review the emails or release them.
Price-gouging for government files is one way that local, state and federal agencies have responded
to requests for potentially embarrassing information they may not want released.
Open records laws are designed to give the public access to government records at little or no cost,
and have historically exposed waste, wrongdoing and corruption....'
'…."The first line of defense is to make the requester go away.
Charging exorbitant fees to simply cut and paste is a popular tactic." said Rick Blum,
who coordinates the Sunshine in Government Initiative,
a coalition of media groups that advocates for open government.
Other governments also have demanded spectacular fees.
During 2008 presidential campaign,
news organizations asked for emails belonging to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin
former Republican vice presidential nominee.
The Anchorage Press said officials at first wanted $6,500 in search fees,
leading the newspaper to withdraw its request.
Thousands of pages of those emails were ultimately provided to news organizations for about
$725 in copying charges....'