Menu
legal work
Highlights
Sued the city of Fresno on behalf of a freelance journalist for the police department’s failure to disclose records of police misconduct stemming from the death of a man in police custody. (2023)
Threat of FAC litigation prompted Mendocino County to rescind an ordinance used to unlawfully charge the public thousands of dollars for public records. (2023)
Persuaded a police department and sheriff’s department to disclose records about high-profile incidents involving a shooting and Taser use, respectively (2022)
Monitoring compliance with landmark settlement guaranteeing right to record activity in publicly accessible land ports of entry at the U.S. border (2022-present).
Litigating First Amendment case seeking to protect the right to sound a vehicle horn in support of a political protest (2022-present).
Monitoring compliance with landmark settlement guaranteeing right to record activity in publicly accessible land ports of entry at the U.S. border (2022-present).
Sued Los Angeles County Sheriff to force disclosure of affidavit supporting search warrant for electronic devices seized from protesters and journalists arrested during demonstration against the killing of Dijon Kizzee. (2022-23)
Protected, via FAC’s Subpoena Defense Initiative, the rights of numerous journalists subpoenaed for their confidential sources or notes under the First Amendment or California’s journalist shield law (2017-present).
Prevailed in litigation against the city of San Jose to force disclosure of emails and texts by then-Mayor Sam Liccardo, who refused to disclose such records despite clear law making them public records. (2022-23)
Established the important statewide precedent that police misconduct records of local agencies held by the California Attorney General’s office are public records, opening the door to public scrutiny of a trove of such files in the AG’s hands. (2021)
Forced disclosure of hundreds of pages of previously secret police misconduct records in the Ventura County Sheriff’s office. (2022)
Forced disclosure of hundreds of pages of previously secret police misconduct records in Contra Costa County police agencies. (2019-2021)
Successfully sued Kern County Superior Court for failing to provide public access to court proceedings during the pandemic—in settlement, the court agreed to institute audio access.
Successfully unsealed search warrant applications in the notorious San Francisco Police Department raid of journalist Bryan Carmody. (2019)
Forced disclosure of previously secret records relating to sexual misconduct allegations against public employees in the San Diego District Attorney’s office. (2019)
Blocked last-ditch effort in the California Supreme Court by police unions to hamstring landmark police transparency law, SB 1421. FAC successfully urged the Court to disregard the unions’ attempt to get the high court to rule the law applied only to newly created misconduct records. (2018)
Successfully sued the city of Bakersfield for serial violations of California’s open-meetings law, the Brown Act, with the Court finding the city violated the law by discussing numerous topics in closed session that should have been discussed in public. The Court ordered the city to release numerous previously secret records and to record meetings in the future, as a preventative measure. (2017-20)
Forced disclosure of “block lists” from then-California Governor Jerry Brown’s social media accounts, revealing that the governor had prevented some 1,500 people from participating in those forums, and prompted Gov. Brown to cease the practice of blocking individuals on those accounts. (2017)
Forced disclosure of hundreds of pages of documents alleging serious malfeasance by the city manager of Milpitas, and sued the city to prevent the city manager from keeping further documents secret from the public. (2017)
Organized and led amicus effort in support of lawsuit that led to landmark California Supreme Court decision that emails and texts sent from personal accounts and/or on personal devices are public records, if they concern government business. (2016)
Successfully sued the U.S. Department of Justice to disclose an unclassified version of legal memos analyzing “targeted killing” of an American citizen who joined Al Qaeda in Yemen. (2014-17)
Established favorable state-wide precedent for application of common-law right of access to records of the State Bar of California. (2013)
Successfully sued Los Angeles over City Council member’s destruction of records subject to the California Public Records Act. Favorable settlement established city policy preserving records for two years. (2016-17)
Successfully obtained San Diego Police Department records about an intrusive cell phone tracking device that had been misused by the Department. (2015)
Participated in a successful California Public Records Act case to rescue a small newspaper publisher facing severe court sanctions for having made a CPRA request for access. Court voided the sanctions and set a high barrier against government agencies’ seeking legal fees from CPRA requesters. (2013)
Successfully sued the L.A. Sheriff for information regarding public officials who are inmates of the County Jail — specifically, the names of persons who visit these inmates. (2013)
Successfully challenged police seizure of a journalist’s computers as part of an investigation into the journalist’s possession of a pre-release iPhone prototype. Disclosure of the affidavits used to obtain the search warrant demonstrated that the prosecutor had not told the judge that the search target was a journalist. (2010)
Successfully sued the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) to force the release of records of a large real estate deal in which CalPERS’ $100 million investment was wiped out. (2010)
Successfully sued the California legislature for access to a legislative database in a format permitting meaningful analysis of campaign contributions. Favorable settlement was crucial for public interest co-plaintiff, MapLight. (2009)
Successfully sued CalPERS for information on its hedge fund and venture capital investments. Favorable settlement provided for ongoing disclosure of management fees, profits/losses, and other performance metrics. (2009)
Petitioned the U.S. Trade Representative to challenge the Chinese government’s censorship of U.S. internet companies as violation of World Trade Organization treaties – a position that was adopted years later by the U.S. State Department. (2009)
Successfully challenged Santa Clara County’s license fees for its GIS mapping database, establishing public access to city/county mapping data gathered or created by local governments. (2007)
Successfully sued for emails of the San Bernardino County assessor, who had been AWOL from his elected office. The released records contributed to prosecution of the assessor on political corruption charges. (2006)
Drafted and organized support for Proposition 59, the ballot measure that amended the California Constitution to include a right of public access to government records. (2004)