Last week, MuckRock’s Beryl Lipton had the good fortune of joining an international coalition of Freedom of Information warriors in Madrid, España for AlaveteliCon 2015. For two days, over two dozen representatives of various transparency websites from across the globe discussed the triumphs and tragedies, the successes and stresses of FOI.

With key provisions of the Patriot Act set to expire next week, it’s worth revisiting how the October 2001 legislation reshaped surveillance authorities along a number of fronts - including StingRay cell phone tracking.

The FBI file on outlaw icon Johnny Cash spans the years between 1969 and 1982, capturing the transition from his dark, drug-fueled days (and the associated property damage that came with it) to a concerned parent worried about anonymous threats against his family.

MuckRock’s Shawn Musgrave testified today in support of two bills which would bring badly needed reform to the antiquated and toothless public records law in Massachusetts.

Last week, the Massachusetts public records chief determined that the Boston Police Department must either release documents on StingRay cell phone trackers, or else provide a more detailed rationale for withholding them.

As do private citizens, some ATF and DEA agents use their smartphones to sext each other. But we must hazard a guess as to the size of the issue, according to a recent inspector general report.

Ninety years ago today, Malcolm Little entered the world by way of Omaha, Nebraska, beginning a life in which he would gather many pseudonyms, many followers, many detractors, and a FBI file thousands of pages long — hundreds more still undisclosed — that traced the movement and doings of the infamous black leader Malcolm X.

Today, the Obama administration announced an immediate ban on certain types of military equipment transfers to local police. However, it’s unclear what that means for ordnance the police may already posses - thanks to an earlier collaboration with The Marshall Project, you can find out if your local law enforcement agencies have any of the restricted gear.

Over its seven-season run, Tina Fey’s critically-acclaimed meta-sitcom received 103 Emmy nominations, 11 SAG awards, and - according to a recently completed FOIA request by Tom Nash - nine FCC complaints.

Michigan Senator Carl Levin retired last December after 36 years on the Hill, most notably serving as the chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee On Investigations. Communications between the Senator and the IRS - released via a FOIA request by Todd Feathers - showcase the Senator’s long history of taking to task those who try to get out of paying their taxes.

Police call logs from the now infamous “escaped llama incident” in Sun City, Arizona have been released, and they’re everything you could ask for from a group of law enforcement professionals trying their best to say the word “llama” repeatedly without laughing.

A Use of Force audit of the Florida correctional system has finally been entered into the State Purchasing arm’s paperwork pipeline, bringing the much-needed evaluation of physical control methods in Florida’s prison system just that much closer to reality.

Years after quietly being removed from the FBI’s public archive, agency files on the outspoken author and atheist Christopher Hitchens have returned to the web.

Harry Scheeler is a citizen vigilante requester, conducting his own audits of New Jersey’s FOI law, the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), and helping others in their records retrieval. Last week, MuckRock caught up with Mr. Scheeler to talk about about citizen requesting, the politicization of public records, and how you can help.

Despite policy prohibiting collecting information about individuals or organizations solely based on participation “in a particular non-criminal organization or lawful event,” the Austin Regional Intelligence Center appears to have kept a calendar of activist events in the area, sifted from social media.

It’s a running joke that DEF CON - Las Vegas’ annual gathering of notable members of the hacker community - is a rather obvious target for nosy government agencies. So much so, that the conference has made it into a contest: spot the fed, win a t-shirt. While organizers insist it’s all in good fun, FBI files released this week show the agency is not amused.

A trove of documents received in response to a public records request filed with the Austin Regional Intelligence Center (ARIC) included a report on animal rights activists planning to protest the circus. When asked why this was something a counterterrorist unit would be interested in, a representative of ARIC explained that “PETA is recognized by the FBI as a domestic terrorist group.”

Join Shawn, Nicole, and myself for the fourth installment of our ever-evolving FOIA-side chat series, where we talk about disappearing FBI files, the requester as archivist, and that time Johnny Cash burned down a national forest.