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First Amendment Coalition

FAC Supports CA Senate Bill 1421 to Disclose Police Misconduct Files

If passed, CA Senate Bill 1421 will bring long-overdue transparency to records relating to police misconduct. [Read More ]

Victory for FAC's Subpeona Defense Initiative

A reporter for Berkeleyside, a daily news website in Berkeley, CA, will not be required to testify in a criminal trial. [Read More.]

Seeking Applicants for FAC's First Legal Fellow

If you are a highly-motivated lawyer with excellent credentials and familiarity with the relevant areas of law please apply now.

First Amendment News

Opinion /Coalition News/1st Amendment News/Asked & Answered

On Access
Opinion from Executive Director David Snyder

The Tyranny of the Minority: A Post-Charlottesville Theory of the First Amendment

BY DAVID SNYDER—The framers of the U.S. Constitution understood the protections of the First Amendment to be a bulwark against the “tyranny of the majority” — a shield to protect those with unpopular views against oppression by a popularly elected majority. President Donald Trump has turned this concept on its… ∞

Memo to Future Historians of the Trump Presidency: Good Luck. You’ll Need It.

BY DAVID SNYDER --Tucked into a February 13 Washington Post article about internal chaos at the White House is a stunning sentence, slipped in almost as an aside: White House “[s]taffers, meanwhile, are so fearful of being accused of talking to the media that some have resorted to a secret… ∞

How Trump’s War on Free Speech Threatens the Republic

BY DAVID SNYDER—On May 17, while delivering a graduation speech to cadets at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, a scandal-plagued President Donald Trump took the opportunity to complain, yet again, about the news media. No leader in history, he said, has been treated as unfairly as he… ∞

First Amendment News
Headlines from Across the Country

Twitter and Facebook back bill for political ad transparency

Twitter is backing the Honest Ads Act introduced in the U.S. Congress last year to make social media platforms more transparent on political ads. The act requires providers to maintain a public file of election ads purchased. The file would contain a copy of the ad, the target audience, the… ∞

Tariffs on Canadian newsprint threatens U.S. news industry

Already in trouble with declining ad revenues, newspapers are facing a potentially disastrous blow over tariffs recently imposed on Canadian newsprint. The U.S. Commerce Department initiated the tariffs in response to a hedge fund-owned paper company in Washington state that claimed Canadian firms benefited from government subsidies. The tariffs would… ∞

California news media sues over rules that limit viewing of executions

Three news outlets are suing California for blocking access to how it conducts executions at San Quentin State Prison. California has put into effect rules that allow lethal drugs to be prepared and injected into inmates in a separate "infusion control room" out of public sight. During the process, the… ∞

Coalition News
FAC News & Initiatives

FAC Helps Defeat Effort by School District to Recover Nearly $500K in Attorneys Fees From Records Requester

A court in Hayward, CA yesterday denied an unprecedented effort by a public school district to recover nearly half a million dollars in attorneys fees from a woman who had requested public records from the district. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Brand ruled that the motion by the Newark… ∞

CA Senate Bill 1421 Would Bring Desperately Needed Transparency to Police Misconduct Files

The First Amendment Coalition strongly supports California Senate Bill 1421, which would bring long-overdue transparency to records relating to police misconduct. The bill would require disclosure of records relating to investigations of serious police misconduct, including officer-involved shootings and instances where police officers have lied under oath. Law enforcement officers… ∞

Now Hiring: First Amendment Coalition Legal Fellow

The First Amendment Coalition (FAC), an award-winning, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the First Amendment and the public’s right to know, is looking for a practicing lawyer or a recent law school graduate to serve for one year as a Legal Fellow, with the possibility of renewal for a… ∞

Asked & Answered
Questions Answered by FAC Lawyers

A&A: CA Police Deny CPRA Request on Six-Month Old Case

Q: Made Request for records under 6257(f) as the “authorized representative”of a victim and police are claiming disclosure would “endanger successful completion” of six-month-old investigation. No objection re standing or anything else just the investigation exemption. They refuse to articulate how disclosure would endanger. Can’t find any case law on this exemption. A: Unfortunately, law enforcement would likely be […]

A&A: Appeal of Superior Court Denial of Writ of Mandate Under Public Records Act

Q: I am litigating a public records act petition for writ of mandate in Superior Court. The tentative initially went in my favor, but after oral argument, the court reversed its position and denied my petition outright. I am considering an appeal. Are appeals of petitions for writ of mandate under the PRA discretionary, or […]

A&A: Brown Act Rules About Late Night Meeting

Q: Three nights ago, my city noticed a special meeting 27 hours prior to holding it. The special meeting was scheduled to occur immediately following a regularly scheduled city council meeting. Regular city council meetings rarely end before 10:00 PM. In this case, the regular meeting did not end until 12:23 AM. Lots of controversy that […]

Legal Hotline

The Legal Hotline gives users quick, free access to FAC’s lawyers for questions about access to public records; your right to attend government meetings; access to court documents and proceedings; and first amendment protections for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Asked & Answered

A searchable database of questions posed by 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.

Access to Records

FAC’s incomparable resources for using California and federal to obtain public records, including FAC’s CPRA Primer; the text of the CPRA, and a template for a CPRA request letter for use in requesting public records

Access to Meetings

Links to all of FAC’S resources for California’s open-meetings law, the Brown Act, including our Brown Act Primer on how the law works; the text of the The Ralph M. Brown Act, and a sample “Cure & Correct” demand letter to report a violation of the law.

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