Asked & Answered

Q: I’m a documentary producer researching a 1989 criminal case of Daniel Rakowitz. I requested the case files and court transcript for this trial from the New York State Supreme Court Clerk’s Office. At the time that the files were supposed to be delivered, I was informed that the case files and court transcript had been located offsite for storage and were destroyed in a fire. According to reportage by the New York Daily News, the

Q:  I’m a journalist who filed a request for police reports with the Police Department, seeking information about certain incidents and arrests involving stolen firearms. When the records officer called me to clarify what kind of information I was seeking, I told her I wished to receive basic information — such time, date, location, etc. — but also a narrative summary of the incident or arrest and a description of the firearm involved, to include

Q: I serve on a five-member special district board. Early this month, I attempted to bring public awareness to a hazardous condition on public property leased by a developer during a publicly noticed joint advisory committee meeting. The County DA is threatening me with a Brown Act violation for attempting to speak out. I never actually made my comment during the committee meeting because the committee walked out of the meeting three times and blocked me

Q: I’m a journalist at a technology news site based in San Francisco. And I have a question regarding copyright protections and public records in California. We wrote a story regarding a local VIP’s  plans for a new home. The municipality allowed us to view the architectural renderings of the home in the city offices. But they said we could not make copies of them or reproduce them because they were copyrighted by the architectural

Q: I submitted a records request to a public school district. After agreeing to narrow it down to what should be a relatively simple search I have now been told it will take an estimated 12 weeks to produce the records. My initial search of case law indicates that there is no hard and fast guideline for what is considered “prompt” under the statute; however, 12 weeks seems very excessive to me considering the small