Asked & Answered

Q: I submitted a CPRA and have not disclosed all of the documents from one of the categories I asked for. I requested specific photos of weapons that were found by park rangers and they are only releasing pictures from a portion of the ranger program. They did not disclose that there are additional photos, but a ranger I know who works for the government has stated that their supervisor is only asking them to

Q: I am a school district trustee with concerns about a fellow trustee. The district received a PRA request for an email sent from the board member’s personal email to his school email. It was blind copied (bcc’d) to others. The PRA request asked for the complete email, including recipients. An affidavit, signed by the board member says he provided email is an unaltered and true copy. But it is not. The email is provided and

Q: What are the rights of a prison volunteer in California who wishes to write about his or her experience of working with prisoners in the realm of education, particularly if the education has an activist component around mass incarceration? California Code of Regulations Title 15, section 3261.1 specifies that the use of “facilities, staff, inmates” in the writing of books and magazine articles requires prior approval of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Q: I recently submitted a public records act request asking for all complaints filed by city employees against sitting council members. As a local journalist, I got a tip that a council member may have had a number of sexual harassment complaints filed against him. After asking for several extensions, the city responded today. They objected to the request claiming: (a) it seeks documents and information protected by the attorney-client privilege and the attorney work-product doctrine

Q: I’ve run into trouble with a CPRA request I submitted. I requested Title IX investigations reports from every college in California. Several community colleges are denying my request using FERPA, which the US DoE said does not apply to investigation reports in a Dear Colleague letter. Other schools are charging absurd amounts of money ($800-$2500) for the documents. Others are citing attorney client privilege and other aspects of the CPRA act. Every University of