OpenTheGovernment.org - Resource Center - Policy

Resource Center : Policy : Digital Access :

Digital Access

Federal policies for access to government information are outmoded, primarily based on the 1960's Freedom of Information Act. Digital technologies can and should be utilized by all branches of the federal government to make information created, collected, or maintained by or for the government accessible and usable by any member of the public at no-fee, and to ensure that permanent public access is maintained for permanently valuable information.

Access to legislative branch information is addressed below under "Congressional Transparency." Components of our agenda to ensure this objective are discussed below.

Executive Branch

Managing the public's records for accountability and history, a report written by OpenTheGovernment.org with input from policy advocates and current and former high-level federal officials, on the preservation and management of government records.[January 2009]
Agencies Face Challenges in Managing E-Mail, a report by th Government Accountability Office (GAO) [5.23.08]
Testimony on the Electronic Communications Preservation Act by Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives. [5.23.08]
Record Chaos: The Deplorable State of Electronic Record Keeping in the Federal Government, a report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). OpenTheGovernment.org provided assistance with the survey. [April 2008]

Government Data Portals

E-Rulemaking

Achieving the Potential: The Future of Federal e-Rulemaking, report coordinated under the auspices of the Section on Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice of the American Bar Association, The report makes specific recommendations for reforming the e-regulatory process to make public participation in federal government rulemaking effective and efficient.

Digital Authentication

State-by-State Report on Authentication of Online Legal Resources, from the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL)

Judicial Branch

Resources

Free Searchable Federal Court Opinions from Justia.com
The Supreme Court's Official Website
Supreme Court Times - up-to-date information about cases currently on the docket of the Supreme Court of the United States
Judicial Salary Resource Center [National Center for State Courts]

Analyses and Reports

Glimmers of greater openness at secretive Court by Tony Maura, First Amendment Center, October 2006
Judging Secrets: The Role Courts Should Play in Preventing Unnecessary Secrecy by Meredith Fuchs, Administrative Law Review, Winter 2006
Secret Dockets by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
The Pervasive Problem of Court-Sanctioned Secrecy and the Exigency of National Reform by David S. Sanson, Duke Law Journal, November 2003
Materials on Secrecy Practices in the Courts by the 2000 Forum for State Court Judges
Open Courts with Sealed Files: Secrecy's Impact on American Justice - What Judges Can and Should Do About Secrecy in the Courts by Richard A. Zitrin, Roscoe Pound Institute, 2000
A Quiet Revolution in the Courts: Electronic Access to State Court Records" by the Center for Democracy and Technology