Archives for 2013
Senator David Vitter questions DOI Nominee on plans for the direction of the department
Senator David Vitter questions DOI Nominee on plans for the direction of the department
Amicus Briefs in Drakes Bay Case From Unlikely Allies
Two weeks after the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision to keep the Drakes Bay Oyster Company (DBOC) open while the court considers its appeal, a group of local food and agriculture supporters have filed an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the oyster farm.
The brief was submitted by Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant, the Marin and Sonoma County Farm Bureaus, California Farm Bureau Federation, Marin Organic, Food Democracy Now, Alliance for Local Sustainable Agriculture, the Hayes Street Grill and Stacy Carlsen, Agriculture Commissioner for the County of Marin.
The group provides examples of local implications if the farm was ordered to close:
- The shellfish produced in Drakes Estero are important to the local economy and since there are no other options in California to relocate the oyster beds, the supply would be disrupted.
- Many restaurants and businesses will lose the feature of providing local and sustainable resources.
- Other California shellfish growers will be required to pay higher fees or receive reduced State services if DBOC was shut down.
- The local school will lose value on its work to close the achievement gap if the children of the workers living on the oyster farm are evicted.
The brief also addresses the issue of the National Park Service’s use of misrepresented science in the Environment Impact Statement that led to the decision to shut down the farm.
Cause of Action, Stoel Rives, LLP, and Briscoe Ivester & Basel, LLP, filed an opening brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on behalf of Drakes Bay Oyster Company (DBOC). The court is scheduled to hear this appeal challenge on May 14.
The amicus brief can be found here.
Mother Jones: The Government Still Doesn’t Want You to Know What Caused the Financial Crisis
Read the full story here: Mother Jones
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial meltdown, the US government launched a vast investigation, but it still doesn’t want you to know the details of what it found.
In January 2011, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) created by Congress put out its final report. But it only released a portion of all the source documents it scoured, so last year the government accountability group Cause of Action filed a lawsuit seeking the release of those documents, including emails, memoranda, and draft reports. Last week, the DC district court announced it was dismissing the case. But it’s not over yet: COA vowed on Tuesday that it will appeal the decision. In a statement, the group said the judge’s ruling that the documents were not subject to the Freedom of Information Act was “a misapplication of the law,” and said that “COA will continue to fight to shed light on the workings of our government.”
CoA Joins Coalition of Government Accountability Advocates in Asking FDA to Revise FOIA Policy
Earlier this week, Cause of Action was proud to join a number of other transparency organizations in sending a letter to the FDA concerning their FOIA deletions policy. Read more below from Open the Government and follow this link to see the letter.
Groups to FDA: Make FOIA Process More Accountable
“On Tuesday, March 8 OpenTheGovernment.org and 16 other organizations dedicated to openness and accountability filed a comment on a public petition urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to you revoke the its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) “deletions policy.” Public Citizen originally filed the petition in September 2012.
Under the FDA’s current FOIA policy, the agency redacts portions, referred to by them as “minor deletions,” of documents released without giving requesters an immediate right to appeal within the agency. The agency instead requires requesters to make a second request for “reconsideration” of any deletions before being allowed to appeal. If a requester does not do so, the FDA administratively closes the FOIA request without ever making a final determination. The agency does not define “minor deletions,” but in practice it relies on the policy to delete substantial portions – sometimes full pages – of documents.
As described in the comment, we strongly believe the policy violates both the letter and spirit of FOIA and casts serious doubt on the accuracy of FOIA performance data that FDA provides to Congress and the public. Public Citizen’s citizen petition on this matter has been pending for more than five months and alleges a serious violation of the law; it is high time for the agency to respond to it.
Find out more about the petition, and submit your own comment, here.”