This week’s FOI Fail award goes to Madison County Circuit Judge Alan Mann, who sealed court records in the capital murder case of Amy Bishop. She is charged with killing three employees during her time as a biology professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Bishop is accused of killing three biology department colleagues during a Feb. 2010 meeting and shooting three other employees. The court seal will keep information about the case from public view.

Mann already issued a gag order in March on both parties involved in the case. He did, however, reject a request from Bishop’s lawyers to keep pretrial court proceedings closed to the public.

The Huntsville Times and WHNT News 19 are both considering potential legal actions that could re-open public access to the sealed court records.

– Morgan Watkins

Morgan Watkins is SPJ’s summer Pulliam/Kilgore Freedom of Information intern and a University of Florida student. Reach her by email (mwatkins@spj.org) or connect with her on Twitter (@morganwatkins26).

Classified information is obviously meant to remain secret. But apparently, unclassified documents should stay secret too.

At least, the prosecution in the Thomas Drake whistleblower court case thinks so. And on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett agreed.

Unclassified but “sensitive” information will be withheld from Drake’s trial because, under the National Security Agency Act of 1959, prosecutors can request that classified and unclassified information can be kept secret from the jurors and replaced with other substitutions.

This legal privilege has been used by the government to refuse releasing records under FOIA, but this is the first time it has been used in criminal trials.

Although the court has decided keeping the unclassified information undisclosed in the trial is acceptable and will not affect Drake’s defense, his lawyers argued otherwise in a May 30 response to the prosecution’s request.

The substitutions agreed to by the court will “signal to the jury that the Court and the government believe information in the document was so potentially damaging to national security that it had to be withheld from the public — the very fact they must decide.”

– Morgan Watkins

Morgan Watkins is SPJ’s summer Pulliam/Kilgore Freedom of Information intern and a University of Florida student. Reach her by email (mwatkins@spj.org) or connect with her on Twitter (@morganwatkins26).

Today, most media eyes are on Washington, D.C. following the news (or lack thereof) of a possible deal to prevent a federal government shutdown. But as House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid go back and forth in press conferences, there was “meat and potatoes” work being done on the Hill.

The Senate Judiciary Committee met today, referring several bills and judicial nominations to the Senate floor. Among those bills passed were two of particular interest to freedom of information and open government-access watchers.

S410, the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act, passed 12-6. The measure would permit broadcasting, televising and other recording of court proceedings in federal appellate or district courts. However, it’s not a blanket mandate, as written. The bill gives discretion to a presiding judge to authorize such activities. It’s sponsored by Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley. Read the bill text and summary.

S627, sponsored by Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, would expedite Freedom of Information Act requests made of federal agencies. Called the Faster FOIA Act, the bill would create a commission to examine processing delays in records requests. The commission would also explore why use of federal government FOIA exemptions in denying records requests increased in fiscal year 2009. Read the bill text and summary.

SPJ and the Freedom of Information Committee will follow the progress of both bills.

- Scott Leadingham