WHAT THE 'SUNSHINE' IN 'SUNSHINE WEEK' MEANS FOR AP

The best public interest journalism starts with information that would not come to light without newsroom enterprise, backed up by legal remedies. In 2009, The Associated Press intensified its already aggressive efforts to unseal documents, open proceedings and fight newsroom subpoenas by having its legal team participate in nearly 90 media access cases, either on our own or with other newsgathering organizations. On the federal FOIA front, the AP was involved in some 70 matters involving 24 agencies, including requests, administrative appeals and ongoing negotiations.

The goal is to help AP journalists make legal rights and remedies part of their arsenal of tools in the continuing battle for freedom of information. No newsgathering organization has used them more boldly, or more comprehensively, than The Associated Press to prevent public officials from hiding their actions from the people they serve. Herewith is a detailing of the AP's pursuit of media access and FOI in 2009, as alluded to in AP President and CEO Tom Curley's Jan. 10, 2010 remarks to the Kentucky Press Association.

ACCESS CASES INITIATED OR JOINED BY AP

1/14 With The New York Times and USA TODAY, AP moves to intervene in Gitmo detainee habeas cases to unseal unclassified government submissions.

1/15 AP joins an Arizona media coalition to retain counsel to assert that state open records law applies to metadata in Word documents as well as the text of the documents themselves.

1/26 With Gannett, CNN and local newspapers, AP appeals from adverse ruling in our effort to unseal transcripts and documents from the Jena juvenile proceedings in the Mychal Bell case.

2/2 With Toronto Star, CTV, and CBC, AP pursues Canada Supreme Court appeal from reporting restrictions in the “Toronto 18” terrorism trials.

2/3 AP joins effort to persuade British High Court of Justice to release unredacted descriptions by Binyam Mohammad of his torture in Pakistan where he was sent by the U.S. government as an accused terrorist detainee.

2/10 AP pursues its appeal of the district court’s refusal to order release of John Walker Lindh’s application for parole.

2/17 AP negotiates settlement terms of its Arkansas open records suit in which it had sought physical locations of state-owned computers whose Internet addresses were the originators of politically motivated Wikipedia updates.

2/19 AP, with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Kansas City Star, receives a final tranche of e-mails demanded from and initially refused by the office of Gov. Matthew Blunt.

2/26 AP, with The New York Times, Hearst, NBC and other media, intervenes in the Barry Bonds trial to obtain completed juror questionnaires.

2/27 AP participates in media submission to Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on incompatibility of UK libel law with free expression provisions of international human rights law.

3/6 AP is catalyst for successful informal effort to turn back attempt by law enforcement officials in Oakland Mich., to impose draconian registration requirements to obtain media passes.

3/7 AP and the Las Vegas Review appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court following denial of timely access to juror questionnaires in the O.J. Simpson robbery case.

3/27 FAA bird strike database dispute.

3/27 AP appeals to the West Virginia Supreme Court a trial court ruling that certain emails between a former chief justice and a powerful litigant with a live case before the court are not subject to disclosure as public records.

3/30 AP joined local North Carolina media in challenging a sealing order on search warrant affidavits in a grisly shooting case at a nursing home.

4/8 AP defends against a lawsuit by the Montana Department of Corrections seeking court support for its effort to withhold from AP an investigation into sexual misconduct on the job by prison employees.

4/21 AP pledged up to $10,000 to support legal action by Gannett and Wisconsin Newspaper Association to challenge efforts of state high school athletic assn officials to restrict online video coverage of championship competition events.

4/29 AP joined local Idaho media to challenge the sealing of pre-trial proceedings in a widely covered domestic violence case.

5/15 AP and Cleveland Plain Dealer go to court in Delaware to challenge sealing of documents in a shareholder class action suit against National City Corporation, the Cleveland-based mortgage company.

5/19 AP and The New York Times led a coalition of news companies petitioning Defense Secretary Robert Gates for loosening of the rules restricting access to records of the military commissions.

5/28 AP, Atlanta Constitution, CNN and CBC asked a federal judge to unseal recordings submitted as evidence in the trial of two Canadian men on trial as terrorists after being arrested “casing” various high profile sites in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere.

6/2 AP asked a federal court in California to unseal plea agreements in the criminal case against 70 members of the Mongol Motorcycle Club, based in southern California.

6/5 AP joined local media in Florida to unseal police car cam video of a fatal hit and run incident involving football star Donte Stallworth.

6/12 AP joined The New York Times, Gannett and other news organizations to challenge Florida State University’s denial of access to NCAA correspondence in an eligibility dispute on grounds it was exempt from open records requirements.

6/15 AP joined El Nuevo Herald of Miami in challenging restrictions on access to evidence in the Texas criminal trial of an anti-Castro activist and accused bomber Luis Carriles.

6/16 AP intervened to open up an odd juvenile court deportation hearing in Georgia for a 13-year-old whose parents were both illegal aliens and had been deported and who the state no longer wished to support.

6/25 AP retained counsel to examine the issue of whether Minnesota governors’ appointment calendars are subject to disclosure as public records. (Counsel concluded they probably aren’t)

7/14 AP joined Gannett to intervene in the corruption case against a Kentucky highway contractor to unseal evidence consisting of a proffer of testimony by the contractor in a much earlier case that involved him.

7/29 AP joined media in Seattle in an effort to unseal court records of an employment lawsuit by a former TV anchor woman now running for county executive.

8/25 AP joined the Raleigh News & Observer in an attempt to unseal a 911 recording of a call for police help from a University of North Carolina student who was subsequently shot and killed by an officer who had pulled him over in his car.

9/14 AP retained counsel to challenge the closure of an Atlanta hearing in litigation among children of the Rev. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King over control of the estate.

10/5 AP joined the Las Vegas Review Journal in an effort to unseal search and arrest warrant affidavits related to the investigation into the death of Michael Jackson and his treatment by a Las Vegas doctor.

10/14 AP joined Salt Lake City media in an effort to unseal court filings in his competency hearing by kidnap rapist Brian David Mitchell.

10/22 AP sued the Wisconsin Department of Corrections for access under state open records law to a video recording of prison officers improperly using a stun grenade to force an inmate to leave his cell.

10/28 AP joined a coalition of California media to retain counsel to draft a formal comment on proposed rules that would create a public right of access to court administrative records.

11/5 AP joined The New York Times, Bloomberg and Dow Jones in moving to unseal the plea agreement of Roomy Khan, the former business partner and now chief witness against accused insider trader Raj Rajaratnam.

11/22 AP joined a motion in Delaware bankruptcy court to unseal a settlement agreement between the Catholic archdiocese and one of about 100 litigants claiming harm from childhood sexual abuse by priests.

11/22 AP joined a Baltimore media coalition in an effort to obtain release of juror information in the corruption case against Baltimore Mayor Sheila Ann Dixon.

AMICUS BRIEFS AP JOINED

1/8 In the Nebraska Supreme Court, appealing denial, on HIPAA grounds, of access to burial records from 1909 to 1959 at a state mental hospital. (Reporters Committee brief)

1/21 In the California Court of Appeal, appealing a trial court’s finding that a large hospital chain was a private figure for libel law purposes.

1/23 In the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, in support of a plan approved by the Boston trial court to allow live Web streaming of arguments in the Sony BMG music copyright case.

3/2 In the Court of Appeals in Tennessee, in support of an effort by Prison Legal News to establish that the state’s open records law applies to its private prison contractor, Corrections Corporation of America. (ACLU brief)

3/4 In the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, in support of an appeal from a libel ruling in Noonan v. Staples in which the court held that truth was not a defense.

3/23 In the Tennessee Supreme Court, challenging the sealing of discovery documents in litigation that followed a catastrophic nursing home fire. (Reporters Committee brief)

7/7 In the California Supreme Court, in support of an Arts & Entertainment Television Network appeal from denial of a dismissal motion that would severely undermine effectiveness of the state’s anti-SLAPP statute.

7/15 In the Arizona Supreme Court, in support of an effort to establish that state open records law applies to metadata in Word documents as well as the text of the documents themselves.

7/20 In the Wisconsin Supreme Court challenging efforts by employees of a local school district to use the open records law as legal grounds for the district’s policy of treating all emails on district computers as public documents.

7/20 In the Washington Supreme Court, in support of strict application of statutory fines against agencies that willfully withhold records that are clearly subject to release under state open records law.

8/19 In the New Jersey Supreme Court, in support of an appeal from a ruling that would have undermined the fair report privilege as it applies to lawsuits filed in court.

8/19 In the California Supreme Court, in support of an appeal from a trial court ruling that the names of police officers involved in shootings may be withheld under state open records law.

8/25 In the U.S. Supreme Court, opposing the appeal from a lower court ruling that said the government had wrongly applied FOIA to refuse disclosure of photos of detainees who suffered abuse while in custody of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Reporters Committee brief)

8/27 In the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, in support of efforts to defeat an effort by members of the city council of Alpine, Texas, to overturn provisions of the Texas Open Meetings Act on First Amendment grounds. (Reporters Committee brief)

9/9 In the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, to uphold a lower court ruling that required the Federal Reserve to disclose documentation of emergency actions it took in support of banks during the financial meltdown last year.

11/4 In the U.S. Supreme Court, to prevent a ruling in the Enron Skilling appeal that could limit trial coverage in future by holding that in highly publicized cases it’s presumed that the defendant’s fair trial rights are compromised.

11/20 In the European Court of Human Rights, supporting news media seeking a ruling on free press grounds against Dutch police search and seizure operations against a magazine which they believed might have evidence in a series of bank robberies.

SPORTS ACCESS ISSUES

AP is among the largest underwriters of the international News Media Coalition, which opposes efforts by sports promoters to limit rights of news media to distribute their coverage. AP also frequently plays a leading role in negotiations with leagues and teams over specific credential issues.

Among 2009 disputes in which AP was active:

1/13 News agencies suspended coverage of the South Africa cricket tour of Australia.

1/16 News agencies and regional media combine in an effort to enlist Australian government intervention in the dispute with Cricket Australia over many of CA’s credential terms, including a demand that CA be allowed to approve agencies’ subscriber lists. AP submits written and oral testimony before a Senate committee hearing.

8/14 AP played a behind-the-scenes role in the Southeastern Conference football credential dispute, providing media negotiators with analysis of successive revisions of the credential and arguments for the changes media wanted.

SUNSHINE IN GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE

AP is a major underwriter of the Washington-based Sunshine in Government initiative, a news industry coalition which lobbies for stronger open government law, rules and policies. It focused during 2009 on implementation of the Office of Government Information Services, an ombudsman-like agency for FOIA requesters that was created in the 2008 FOIA amendment that SGI was instrumental in shepherding to passage. SGI is now organizing for more effective opposition to “B(3)” provisions, which provide hidden exemptions from FOIA disclosure for information that often doesn’t merit such protection.