Do you know about historically or genealogically important public records that have limited public access, or no public access? If so, please take our survey, so we can investigate and update our to-do list.
Do you know about historically or genealogically important public records that have limited public access, or no public access? If so, please take our survey, so we can investigate and update our to-do list.
PLEASE NOTE: Generally speaking, a records index or finding aid is usually much more likely to fall under Freedom of Information Law purview than the actual records or vital records certificates. For example, a limited-information marriage records index may be available under a state’s FOI laws, although the actual marriage certificates or licenses may have strict privacy laws preventing their release.
Adoption records are almost always sealed under strict privacy laws, and state FOI laws can’t override those.
Cemetery records are generally private, as they are owned by the cemetery themselves, and are not governmental records subject to state FOI laws — unless it’s a public city cemetery.
This survey is looking for information about specific genealogical record sets you believe to be wrongly withheld from the public. It’s not for reporting the names of your family members. Reclaim The Records is interested in open records advocacy, not your personal family tree. 🙂
@CJGriffinEsq And don't forget the times that just seeing your name on a formal letterhead was enough to strike fear into them, even without needing a lawsuit! You were the one who helped bring the New Jersey state death *and* marriage index data to the world, via OPRA!
They don't like my cases - you know, the ones that gave us all access to:
- use of force reports
- dash & body cams
-names of cops who kill people
-police disciplinary agreements
-police IA files
-subpoenas for newborn baby blood
-video of cops bragging about brutality
(cont'd)
Unfortunately, New Jersey's legislature is still on the verge of totally gutting their awesome state Freedom of Information law, OPRA. It may soon become a lot harder to get records out of the state, including genealogical ones. 😠
We sent them our thoughts about the situation.
Happy belated Mother's Day, to everyone researching. We love reading these kinds of stories where our work for free records access has made a difference. 🥰
(Also, we are going to have some updates for NYC marriage license data soon...! 😁)
https://twitter.com/jjainschigg/status/1789717653872931167
But it wasn't internal archives staff doing most of the original scanning, it was a separate group under a publicly-available contract with the city.
Did the Archives allow the contractors to just...not scan millions of records? Without a plan or penalty?
https://twitter.com/JimBooth975/status/1787941848247382059
Good grief you guys. In Michigan, a bipartisan bill is moving to make the legislature subject to the public records law. Here in NJ, our Legislature -- which is exempt from OPRA--is moving to gut OPRA, with bipartisan support.
A Pierce County WA judge has fined the Washington State Patrol $750K for failing to produce hundreds of records about a fatal collision. It is one of WA state's largest public records penalties in recent years. by @stimesmcarter via @seattletimes
A lawyer from San Diego is holding up the PACER class action settlement by appealing it to the Federal Circuit. If you want to follow the case, you can subscribe here:
This is a really good question. Their multi-year scanning project is using public funds, has contracts. So where are the public results?
@nycrecords, would you like to maybe answer the public? Where are the rest of the records? Can we at least get an ETA?
https://twitter.com/CyanProject1/status/1787169319304212774
This thread… power to the people. 🤗
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