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Brown signs “Richard McKee bill” to tighten Brown Act enforcement

FAC October 14, 2012

The measure strengthening the public’s ability to enforce the Brown Act was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown last week. Known as the “Richard McKee Act,” the legislation allows members of the public to send local government bodies a cease-and-desist letter if they believe government agencies have violated the Brown Act. The government agency can avoid a court case if it makes a clear commitment to stop the challenged behavior. If it refuses, it

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Governor Brown decides fate of open-government bills

FAC October 12, 2012

The Richard McKee Brown Act enforcement bill wasn’t the only open-government legislation to come before Governor Brown at the end of this legislative session.  Here’s what happened with the bills that FAC has been tracking this year: AB 1270: Governor Brown vetoed this bill that would have allowed journalists greater ability to request interviews  with prison inmates and allow journalists to use materials such as pens, papers, pencils and recording devices to conduct the interviews.

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AG Opinion: What items may be discussed under the real-estate exception? No. 10-206 (12- 27-11)

FAC October 2, 2012

Question: What items may be discussed under the real-estate-negotiations exception to the open meeting requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act—an exception which states that the legislative body of a local governmental agency may meet in closed session with its real estate negotiator “to grant authority to its negotiator regarding the price and terms of payment” for a proposed purchase, sale, exchange, or lease of identified real property? Conclusion: The real-estate-negotiations exception to the open

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Free speech brief for first newspaper in America published 322 years ago today

FAC September 25, 2012

On this day in 1690, Benjamin Harris published Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick in Boston, Massachusetts. However, as Steve King writes, the publication was hardly imposing, “only three of the four book-sized pages had copy,” yet those three pages far too much free speech for the British colonial government and they did not tolerate a second issue: The opening editorial outlined the newspaper’s aims: to help people “better understand the Circumstances of Public Affairs”;

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Scheer discusses Citizens United on HuffPost Live’s “Paying for Free Speech”

FAC September 25, 2012

FAC Executive Director Peter Scheer participated in a lively online discussion centered on the non-profit organization Citizens United  and their new anti Obama film that will air on TV 82 times before November’s election, a first for a film of its kind.  The question posed to the panel was: Is there anything wrong with airing the film so close to the election?  The panel aired on HuffPost Live, the Huffington Post’s new online network featuring live

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