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First Amendment Coalition

Martin Reynolds & Nate Cardozo Join FAC's Board

Journalist Martin Reynolds of the Center for Investigative Reporting and The Maynard Institute and Attorney Nate Cardozo of Electronic Frontier Foundation have joined FAC’s board. [Read More]

Public Can't See What No Longer Exists

FAC recently filed a “friend of court” brief in a CA Court of Appeal case that asks should a CPRA requester be required to get a court order to prevent the government from destroying records? [Read More]

FAC Suit Tackles Use of “Reverse CPRA”

By using a “reverse CPRA,” the Milpitas city manager was able to get a court order barring disclosure of records about his own alleged misconduct–without any argument by proponents of disclosure. [Read more]

First Amendment News

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

On Access
Opinion from Executive Director David Snyder

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… ∞

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… ∞

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… ∞

First Amendment News
Headlines from Across the Country

Lawyers invoke First Amendment to justify Trump comments about ejecting protesters

President Donald Trump's lawyers claimed the president is within his First Amendment rights to instruct followers to use "reasonable force" in ejecting protesters at his campaign rallies. The claim was part of an emergency motion asking the U.S. court of appeals in Ohio to dismiss a lawsuit filed by three… ∞

Defending the First Amendment: Alarm over U.S. Congress bill criminalizing boycotts of Israel

The U.S. Congress is considering a bill to make it a felony to boycott Israel with maximum civil fines of $250,000 or twice the amount of money at issue and a maximum criminal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison. The bill specifically prohibits joining boycotts led by… ∞

Free speech victory in Supreme Court ruling on Slants trademark

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of The Slants to register their rock band name as a trademark, writing that given First Amendment protections, speech could not be banned for merely offending people. The Asian-American band wanted the name as a move to "reclaim a stereotype." (Hollywood Reporter, June… ∞

Coalition News
FAC News & Initiatives

FAC to California Court of Appeal: The Public Can’t See What No Longer Exists

FAC recently filed a “friend of court” brief in a California Court of Appeal case addressing an issue of critical importance to the public’s ability to obtain records under the California Public Records Act: should a CPRA requester be required to get a court order—an injunction—to prevent the government from… ∞

Martin Reynolds and Nate Cardozo Join FAC’s Board of Directors

The First Amendment Coalition is delighted to announce the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors: Martin Reynolds, director of Reveal Investigative Fellowships at the Center for Investigative Reporting and Co-Executive Director of The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education; and Nate Cardozo, Senior Staff Attorney… ∞

FAC Conducts Training for Lawyers to Defend Subpoenaed Journalists

On June 14, the First Amendment Coalition will conduct an in-depth training for lawyers interested in defending journalists who are subpoenaed in civil or criminal cases. The training is part of FAC's Subpoena Defense Initiative, which aims to meet the growing need for pro bono or reduced-rate counsel trained in… ∞

Asked & Answered
Questions Answered by FAC Lawyers

A&A: Are state Task Force meetings covered under the Brown Act?

Q: The state has assembled a Task Force and advertises its meetings (quietly) but claims they are not public meetings. They’ve said I can’t attend. In fact I don’t even know whether the meetings take place at a physical location or are mere conference calls. I believe they are public meetings because the Task Force is […]

A&A: Does Brown Act allow vote to be changed after a meeting adjourns?

Q: I recently witnessed a Planning Commission vote which was changed after adjournment. There is a “protocol” listed on the city’s website that says a vote can be changed within 48 hours. That sounds like a violation of the Brown Act to me. A: Given that, per the Brown Act, legislative bodies are generally required to conduct […]

A&A: Requests for crime reports denied by police department

Q: I am a reporter, and I’ve been having trouble obtaining crime reports from our local police department. I’ve requested crime reports twice and both times I’m told that they are being withheld because of Government Code section 6254(f). To be clear, one time I requested all crime reports that had been filed over a […]

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 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.

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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