In its fourth year, The Foilies recognizes the worst responses to records requests, outrageous efforts to stymie transparency and the most absurd redactions.
THE UGLY TRUTH ABOUT PUBLIC RECORDS ACCESS UNDER NEW MASS LAW
I’ve recently run into back-to-back critical failures that threaten the ability of requesters, be they media or private citizens, to even obtain records at all, let alone obtain them in a timely manner.
SMALL TOWN SWAT TEAM: A SPECIAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE ‘MILITARIZATION OF MAYBERRY’ IN MASS
An analysis of hundreds of pages of police records shows that small town police departments are amassing enormous arsenals, use SWAT in ways that go beyond their original mission, and are sometimes unable to properly select and train officers.
SPECIAL FEATURE: WATCHING BOSTON
The true beginning of a false narrative: an investigation into the Hub’s Neighborhood Watch
DEAR READER: HAPPY SUNSHINE WEEK
There’s a reason that, even as a little paper, we pay such close attention to the public records law and to the flow of information between government entities and private citizens.
BROKEN RECORDS: HOW TO EXPOSE BAD GOVERNMENT IN 2017
For the first time in decades, the Commonwealth has a new public records law. Here’s what you need to know…
BROKEN RECORDS: KAFKACHUSETTS
Mass AG shows just how useless public info laws are, but change is possible
THREAT LEVEL: HYPOTHETICAL
It was a standard public information request … until the state set up a maze to block one intrepid reporter’s access to records
TALK TO THE HAND (BECAUSE BILL GALVIN AIN’T LISTENIN’)
Secretary holds sham hearing on records access
BROKEN RECORDS: BEATING TRANSPARENCY
The MBTA doesn’t want you to know how much it spends concealing evidence of police brutality
