What happens when Illinois' judicial branch declares itself exempt from the 'freedom of information' law? And what's being done about it?

A college professor who performed his own audit of how local governments in Illinois handle Freedom of Information requests says the results were better than expected.  Still, there is plenty of room for improvement.

A WBEZ analysis of nearly 450 pages of emails found that government lawyers blacked out portions of more than half the documents recently turned over to a legislative panel investigating the state’s inability to contain the waterborne illness.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday the Illinois High School Association, which organizes sports tournaments between high schools, does not have to release internal records. The Better Government Association brought the suit.

In this week's Legal Issues in the News: Jennifer Pahre, from the University of Illinois College of Law, looks at the 50th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act.