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Governments Turn Tables By Suing Public Records Requesters (apnews.com)
schwit1 quotes the AP:
Government bodies are increasingly turning the tables on citizens who seek public records that might be embarrassing or legally sensitive. Instead of granting or denying their requests, a growing number of school districts, municipalities and state agencies have filed lawsuits against people making the requests -- taxpayers, government watchdogs and journalists who must then pursue the records in court at their own expense.
The lawsuits generally ask judges to rule that the records being sought do not have to be divulged. They name the requesters as defendants but do not seek damage awards. Still, the recent trend has alarmed freedom-of-information advocates, who say it's becoming a new way for governments to hide information, delay disclosure and intimidate critics. "This practice essentially says to a records requester, 'File a request at your peril,'" said University of Kansas journalism professor Jonathan Peters, who wrote about the issue for the Columbia Journalism Review in 2015, before several more cases were filed. "These lawsuits are an absurd practice and noxious to open government."
The lawsuits generally ask judges to rule that the records being sought do not have to be divulged. They name the requesters as defendants but do not seek damage awards. Still, the recent trend has alarmed freedom-of-information advocates, who say it's becoming a new way for governments to hide information, delay disclosure and intimidate critics. "This practice essentially says to a records requester, 'File a request at your peril,'" said University of Kansas journalism professor Jonathan Peters, who wrote about the issue for the Columbia Journalism Review in 2015, before several more cases were filed. "These lawsuits are an absurd practice and noxious to open government."
If this keeps happening they risk being in contempt of the court by filing frivolous lawsuits against legitimate actors.
Twinstiq, game news
is SLAPP
Yeh right, deep state, that's the reason Trump is a whiney little bitch that can't do anything but complain about everything. It's all a secret cabal of Obama/Bush loyal Civil Servants conspiring to make him look incompetent/treasonous.
R-i-g-h-t.
Oh and LBGT military, who he banned 4 hours after he was notified that Manasfort house had been raided? Those gay soldiers are all part of this conspiracy too?? r-i-g-h-t.
Why did they not do his budget? That 1 page budget? Was that a) deep state Congress Republicans, or b) it's a one page budget that shows zero grasp of what the vast work the US govt does and the contracts its committed to already? Did the the Republicans throw it out because it was a joke from an clueless idiot, or because they're part of a giant conspiracy to make Trump look bad?
Are NFL players are part of this big deep state conspiracy? Or is he attacking them to distract from Manasfort emails with Putin's men about the large chunk of 'black caviar" he received for his work.
And his $15/month healthcare, did that die because a) it's not real, a fiction, a made up lie told to gullible people who want it to be true, or b) deep-state conspiracy.
And of course the press, don't get me started about the fake news constantly fact checking everything he says. Sooooo deep state.
Keep up the faith A/C. Keep telling yourself you weren't conned by a professional conman.
In the old days corrupt and unruly government officials would be tarred and feathered (or worse) so they knew to behave.
In the old days, inconvenient or unruly citizens would be whipped or beaten (or worse) so they knew to stay in their place.
In the old days, we didn't have antibiotics.
The old days were shit.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"