News from 2008

Open Records Law Puts Onus on Agencies

HARRISBURG — Four months, $100 worth of long-distance phone calls, meetings with an attorney and, finally, the intervention of then-House Speaker John Perzel’s office. That’s what it took for Maya Patch to obtain copies of her local sewer authority’s spending records a few years ago. “I wanted to see the books. I wanted to know about monies being spent… Read On

“Right-to-Know” Law Will Impact Zoning, Land Use Issues in Pennsylvania

As the revised 1957 Right-to-Know Law moves to the Governor's desk, land use Attorney J. Stephen Feinour says that the new law will likely soon impact on the way business is conducted in a wide range of zoning, land use, and real estate issues across the state… Read On

PA Right-to-Know Law

The following interview with Attorney Craig J. Staudenmaier discusses key points in the new Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law which will likely be signed into law today by Governor Rendell… Read On

PHEAA To Pay Legal Fees in RTK Case; New Law Expected Today?

A Commonwealth Court found PHEAA, the state student-loan agency, "willfully disregarded the Right-to-Know Law" in fighting media requests for expenditure records, which included "lavish board expenditures," and said there was no legitimate reason for PHEAA to delay access to these records for 20 months… Read On

PHEAA Told to Pay Attorney Fees for Media in Records-Access Case

Saying the state’s student loan agency behaved with “wanton disregard” in refusing to release records to The Patriot-News and two other media organizations, a judge has ordered the agency to cover almost $50,000 in media attorney fees. Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith-Ribner said the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency “unquestionably behaved willfully and with wanton disregard”… Read On