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Search Results for: public's right to speak

Report finds Charlottesville police failed to protect demonstrators’ free speech rights

donal brown December 5, 2017

An independent report found that Charlottesville fumbled their duty to protect the public and free speech during the white supremacist rally last August. Not only did the report say the city failed to uphold the right to free speech of the rally sponsors and their opposition, but also in the wake of the rally that the Virginia state police and the police chief Al Thomas blocked the public’s right to know by failing to make

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A&A: First Amendment rights on college campuses

FAC March 21, 2016

Q: I have run into some First Amendment issues on my college campus. My participation in basic First Amendment activity has resulted in threats of disciplinary action and I also have been denied access to public records. Do First Amendment rights apply to college campuses? A: The First Amendment generally applies only to restrictions on speech by government actors; accordingly, the following analysis applies only to public schools, not private institutions. Campus speech involves all

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A&A: Under CPRA, do I have a right to know who issued a citation?

FAC September 10, 2014

Q: I recently received a copy of vehicular citations from a local police department. The names of the officers issuing the citations are not listed. Do I have a right under the CPRA to find out the name of the officer? A: Under California’s Public Records Act, “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics”

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A&A: Public right to to speak denied at school board meetings

FAC November 2, 2010

Q: I need help defending the  public’s right to speak at open meetings. At school board meetings, board members will not let members of the public comment for the established time of three minutes. School district staff speaks for three minutes and then the public gets three minutes. Often times the chair does not allow the public the chance to speak at all. The chair always interrupts the public speaker. I have audio and visual

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Definition of public forum crucial in Hawaiian free speech dispute

FAC August 28, 2012

Can a government agency control comments posted to its Facebook page? That is the issue raised after the Hawaiian Police Department banned to pro-gun commenters from the HPD Facebook page. They are now being sued on constitutional grounds. If the Facebook page is found to be a “public forum,” then the government agency running the website, unlike owners of private websites, cannot curtail the public’s right to speak freely. Read the story at the Citizen

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