Military Court Transparency: Federal Ruling Expands First Amendment Access, Navy Faces Compliance Shift

This week, we delve into significant developments in transparency and public access. A federal judge in California has extended First Amendment public access rights to military courts, mandating the Navy to provide timely access to nonclassified court-martial records. ProPublica has taken legal action against the Department of Education over unaddressed FOIA requests, highlighting a growing backlog in civil rights investigations. Seven major federal departments missed the deadline for their annual FOIA reports, impacting federal transparency benchmarks. In Indiana, a court ordered the disclosure of execution drug purchasing records, citing violations of state public records law. Lastly, a federal judge rejected the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's broad use of the deliberative process privilege to withhold records, emphasizing the need for specific justifications. Links to all source material are in the show notes. 📚 Sources: https://www.propublica.org/article/navy-court-records-ruling-first-amendment https://www.propublica.org/article/education-department-civil-rights-office-foia-lawsuit https://www.foiaadvisor.com/foia-blog/2026/3/3/foia-news-where-art-thou-annual-reports https://www.rcfp.org/idoc-capital-chronicle-ruling/ https://www.foiaadvisor.com/foia-blog/2026/2/26/court-opinions-issued-feb-25-2026