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Will Brown Act budget cuts mean loss of open meetings?

FAC July 15, 2012

Has the Brown Act open-meeting law been suspended?  There have been cuts to the state budget that stop  reimbursements to local governments to cover the costs of  posting agendas, which is  mandated by the Brown Act.  Those portions of the Brown Act are not currently enforceable, though local governments would be foolish not to continue to provide notice. In any case, Gov. Brown’s tax-raising ballot initiative, if enacted, would constitutionalize the Brown Act’s notice requirement,

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Justice Roberts Saved the Supreme Court — Here’s What He Needs to Do Next

FAC July 11, 2012

BY PETER SCHEER —Chief Justice John Roberts orchestrated the upholding of President Obama’s health reform plan not because he believed that that was the legally correct outcome, and not because he wanted to spare Obama the loss of his singular legislative achievement. No, Roberts’ deft decision, substantially upholding the health law — while simultaneously accepting, and constitutionalizing, all the main legal arguments against it — was intended to save the Court. Politicians worry about tomorrow’s

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Critics say access bill could have opposite result

FAC July 1, 2012

A bill purporting to give the public more access to gas and electric company safety records in California could do just the opposite, opponents say. The legislation, proposed by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, would eliminate the ability of utility companies to unilaterally declare documents secret, instead giving authority over decisions to the state Public Utilities Commission. But opponents say it also would create broad categories of information that’s off limits to the public. The bill

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CPRA case wins release of officers’ names in UC Davis pepper-spraying

FAC June 28, 2012

The names of the UC Davis police officers who pepper sprayed students’ faces during protests last spring were ordered released by an Alameda County Superior Court judge Tuesday. The lawsuit was filed by the Los Angeles Times and Sacramento Bee against the UC Regents last month under the California Public Records Act to compel release of the names of all the officers in the pepper-spraying incident. Only two names had not been redacted from the

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FOIA requests on targeted-drone attacks denied by White House; FAC has filed suit for DOJ legal memorandum

FAC June 21, 2012

The White House rejected FOIA requests from The New York Times and the American Civil Liberties Union for documents regarding the legal justifications for the alleged U.S. government killing of U.S. citizens and others associated with al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, CBS News reported today. The First Amendment Coalition has filed a separate suit in federal district court in San Francisco for access to a Justice Department legal memorandum on the subject of targeted killings.

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