Asked & Answered

Q: Our County held an online public meeting as required by the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), but failed to provide a phone number for anyone who might not have online access. Is this a Brown Act violation? A: In March, California Governor Newsom issued executive orders N-25-20 and N-29-20, which temporarily suspend any Brown Act requirements “expressly or impliedly requiring the physical presence of members, the clerk or other personnel of the body, or of the public as a condition of

SUBMITTED | MAY 5, 2020 Q: The Legislature reopened May 4 and bills are being discussed, amended, and voted on with zero public allowed in the Capitol or to meet with their representatives. I want to put them on notice that they cannot do this. I also want to discuss whether using 18USC S242; 18USC S245; and 42USC S1983 is possible to tell them they are acting outside the scope of law and will be

SUBMITTED | JUNE 5, 2020 Q: The mayor of a California city posted some troubling and inaccurate messages about the Black Lives Matter movement on the eve of June 3rd. I responded to her and myself (and numerous others) were blocked by her. She has used this account to discuss city-related matters with residents before. Before I posted to Facebook, I thankfully had copied and pasted my comments onto a document. I know that SCOTUS

Q: A candidate running for Congress has blocked one of his opponents from viewing his Twitter feed. Is that illegal? I know it’s unconstitutional for an elected official to block people on Twitter if they are discussing public business. Does that apply to candidates, too? A: As you can imagine, this issue has not been extensively litigated, so the state of the law is still in flux. Preliminarily, however, I can tell you that the First Amendment

Q: I submitted a public records request about six weeks ago. The state agency responded promptly requesting a lengthy extension. Are they allowed to ask for so much time to gather records? When are they only allowed a 14-day extension and when can they claim they need more time? I did not push when they asked for more time because I was busy with other projects. Now I’m wondering, should I have been more assertive