Asked & Answered

Have a question? Our Legal Hotline is free. Q:  I live in Tennessee, and my town recently adopted a social media policy that forbids any city employee, elected official, appointed official, vendor or volunteer from posting anything “negative” about the city on social media. Can you please take a look at this and determine if this is a violation of the First Amendment?  A: The First Amendment, with some exceptions, generally prevents the government from limiting citizens’

Q: I would like to gain access to Contractor State License Board documents relating to a recently concluded investigation against me. I have read up on my access rights, but am hoping to be as fully informed as possible before pursuing that route. I am a builder in San Francisco, and the Contractors State License Board closed an almost year long investigation against me finding they “do not have the evidence necessary to proceed with

Q: I’m curious about the protection of my free speech rights as an untenured, racially underrepresented professor at a public university. I posted a comment about my encounter with a coworker, related to my views about racial micro aggression and the recent national unrest about law enforcement. I didn’t directly identify my coworker and privacy settings are restricted to be viewed by my friends only (although some friends shared the post). I also clearly stated

Q: I sent a public records request to the CA DMV and they were required to respond with 10 days. It’s been a month and have not yet had a response. Is there a public records ombudsman I can notify? A: Unfortunately, unlike some states, California does not have an ombudsman to help facilitate public records requests where an agency is not fulfilling its statutory duties under the Public Records Act.  In situations such as yours, I usually