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First Amendment Coalition

FAC Joins Amicus in CA Supreme Court Case

Websites’ Right to Protect User Content At Stake

FAC recently joined an amicus brief urging the California Supreme Court to overrule a lower court’s conclusion that Yelp could be required to remove content from its website

Read the amicus brief in Hassell v. Bird by clicking the button below:

FAC Supports California Assembly Bill 1479

Would Add Much-Needed Teeth to Disclosure Requirements Under the CPRA

Assembly Bill 1479 would impose monetary penalties on agencies that unreasonably delay in responding to requests. FAC supports this much needed-bill. Click the button below to read our letter of support.

FAC & KPCC Forum on Fake News and the First Amendment

Watch Now: FAC & KPCC Forum April 11

Fake News & the First Amendment

Watch a recording of the live event hosted by KPCC’s Alex Cohen with FAC Executive Director David Snyder, Eugene Volokh, law professor at UCLA; Mark Marino, assoc. prof. of writing, USC; and Jane Elizabeth of the American Press Institute.

California Supreme Court Decision

Public Officials Personal Email Accounts Subject to CPRA

The unanimous ruling shuts off the government’s ability to conceal information from the public simply by putting information about government business into personal email accounts.

Help FAC reach the Logan Foundation $110K Match!

2017 $100K Challenge Grant

With your help we can reach the goal!

Who will stand up for free speech and government transparency? The First Amendment Coalition, the Logan Foundation — and you. Please make a tax-deductible gift to help us earn the Logan match. If you donate today, your gift will be doubled!

LEGAL HOTLINE

Free answers for your legal questions!

The Legal Hotline offers free access to FAC’s lawyers for questions about freedom of speech; access to government records; to agency and local government meetings; and to court documents and proceedings.

MEET OUR LAWYERS

Listed here to assist our users in finding a lawyer

We also list them here to thank them and to acknowledge their expertise. FAC has had the good fortune of being represented by some of the best First Amendment and open-government lawyers in the country.

ASKED & ANSWERED

Searchable database of Q&A’s from our Legal Hotline

A&A is a searchable database of questions posed to users like you about their rights under public records laws, open government laws, and first amendment safeguards that have been answered by FAC’s attorneys.

On Access by David Snyder
Opinion by David Snyder

Gmail Nation: The Privatization of Public Records and Public Access

By DAVID SNYDER—The California Supreme Court ruled last month that records stored on government officials’ personal email accounts are subject to the California Public Records Act. This answer seems obvious: government officials should not be able to conceal otherwise public records by simply using Gmail. And yet the law has been surprisingly slow to recognize this principle. Private email accounts have been in widespread use for almost two decades now, and we know that for just as long government officials have been using such accounts to transact public business. If the timing of the California Supreme Court’s ruling is any indication, it will take many years for the law to catch up with the information revolution that has so rapidly transformed the way we all create, store and send information. And given that this revolution shows no signs of abating, it’s a safe bet the law will continue to lag.… ∞

Trump By The Numbers: The Best of (New York) Times and the Worst of (New York) Times

BY DAVID SNYDER--Journalism in the age of Trump, as told through some key numbers and a familiar Dickensian device: Story #1 (the best of times) --In the last quarter of 2016, the New York Times had 276,000 new digital subscriptions, the largest three-month jump in six years, and in February the Times exceeded three million paid print and digital subscriptions. --Large newspapers and magazines are reporting similar surges across the board. --Contributions to nonprofit journalism outlets have soared, and show no sign of coming down. Story #2 (the worst of times) -- Americans' trust and confidence in the mass media "to report the news fully, accurately and fairly" recently dropped to its lowest level in Gallup polling history, with just 32% saying they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. --Six percent of people say they have a great deal of confidence in the… ∞

The Threat to Free Speech is Real. But It Isn’t Coming From Where You Might Think.

BY DAVID SNYDER--Critics of Donald Trump don’t have far to look for evidence that he is hostile to free speech and a free press. Trump has called for criminal prosecution of those who burn the American flag, has declared a “running war” with the media, and routinely derides the press as uniformly “dishonest” and “disgusting.” But the most alarming immediate threats to free speech in this new era aren’t coming directly from Trump. More than 100 UC Berkeley professors recently demanded that the administration silence a speaker whose extreme views they find abhorrent. Republican state legislators around the country have recently floated bills that would essentially authorize police brutality against protesters, authorize “unintentional” civilian violence against protesters, and make some forms of unlawful protest a felony. These may just be idiosyncratic tactical battles in and of their moment -- one-off political spats. But they suggest something much deeper,… ∞

FIRST AMENDMENT NEWS
Headline News / Coalition News/ Asked & Answered

1st Amendment News

Fallout mounts from Montana U.S. House candidate’s assault on reporter

A reporter for The Guardian claimed that U.S. House of Representatives candidate Greg Gianforte "body slammed" him and broke his glasses as he was attempting to ask questions. After interviewing several witnesses the county sheriff cited Gianforte for misdemeanor assault saying that Gianforte's act did not constitute a felony. (Bozeman… ∞

Trump tries to dodge transparency on waivers for former lobbyists

The Trump administration drew a sharp rebuke from the head of the Office of Government Ethics for asking him to withdraw a request for copies of waivers for former lobbyists hired to work for the administration or a federal agency. Ethics chief Walter Shaub said he expects federal agencies to… ∞

Transparency for prescription drug prices gains steam

U.S. Senator John McCain and two democratic colleagues introduced a drug pricing bill that fights escalating prescription drug prices by bringing transparency to plans by companies to increase prices. The law would require companies to produce a transparency and justification report 30 days before increasing the price of certain drugs.… ∞

Coalition News

FAC Joins Brief Urging California Supreme Court to Hold That Internet Content Providers Have a Right Under the First Amendment to Defend Speech on Their Websites

FAC recently joined an amicus brief urging the California Supreme Court to overrule a lower court's conclusion that Yelp could be required to remove content from its website — even though Yelp never had notice and an opportunity to challenge such an order. The ruling contradicts fundamental First Amendment principles,… ∞

California Assembly Bill 1479 Would Add Much-Needed Teeth to Disclosure Requirements Under the California Public Records Act

One of the most frequent complaints FAC hears from people seeking records under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) is that government agencies simply ignore the law's requirement that the government respond to a request within a certain time frame. One reason government agencies do this is that there is… ∞

FAC receives $100K Matching Grant from Jonathan Logan Family Foundation

The Jonathan Logan Family Foundation has committed a $100,000 matching grant to launch FAC's 2017 annual fundraising campaign and to inspire more supporters to join our cause. Because the Logan grant is a matching grant, FAC faces a real challenge -- we need to raise an additional $100,000 to earn… ∞

Asked & Answered

A&A: What rules must public meetings follow regarding agendas and notice?

Q: I chair the Citizens’ Advisory Committee to the Water District Board. A member of the public attends and harasses the Board accusing them of not following precisely Robert’s Rules of Order at District noticed and agendized Board meetings. Is he correct? A: As you probably know, in California the Brown Act governs meetings of “legislative […]

A&A: Can the Deliberative Process Privilege be used to avoid answering a deposition?

Q: Is there any new case law on deliberative process privilege? I read on the website that in 2008 the CA court of appeals ruled Prop. 59 didn’t eliminate the deliberative process privilege. So, is the fact that the right to know is a constitutional right a dead argument? Can the privilege be claimed to […]

A&A: What portion of personnel files are exempt from CPRA disclosure?

Q: Exactly what portion of personnel files are exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act? Specifically, I am trying to find out whether our child’s public school teacher — who was a probationary employee resigned; was terminated for cause, or was “non-reelected” (no reason required per union contract). Our School District maintains that […]

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