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California police privacy law stalled; journalists regain access to inmates

FAC June 19, 2012

Bills on police privacy (AB2299) and journalists’ access to inmates (AB1270) came up for legislative committee action last week. FAC and other fans of government transparency saw a ray of sunshine when AB 2299 stalled in the state Senate amid concerns that it would be abused. The bill, authored by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) offered a unique expansion of privacy rights by allowing law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, public defenders and correctional officers to redact

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Cartoon critiques FAC’s email access case against Auburn City Council

FAC June 14, 2012

Auburn Journal cartoonist Andy Lukkonen suggests that shady business is immune to sunshine in this critique of FAC’s case to gain access to emails discussing public business sent via public officials’ personal email accounts. We’ll concede he makes a good point, which is, of course, why FAC fights on.  Read more about the case here.

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Governor vetoes J.D. Salinger posthumous-privacy bill on 1st amendment grounds

FAC June 13, 2012

The son of profoundly private “Catcher in the Rye” author J.D. Salinger  had hoped the New Hampshire bill would allow him to protect his father’s identity from commercial exploitation until 70 years following his death, according to today’s Washington Post story.  The new Hampshire governor explained his veto saying that the bill was “overly broad” and “could have a chilling effect on legitimate journalistic and expressive works protected by the state and federal constitutions.” “The

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FOIA lawsuit seeks info on large businesses winning federal small business defense contracts

FAC June 13, 2012

The Pentagon denied FOIA requests small-business subcontracting reports made by Hewlett-Packard, the American Small Business League (ASBL) has filed a lawsuitto force the government to turn over contracting data, according to a report from The Project On Government Oversight (POGO).  “I am confident that the documents we requested will further prove that corporate giants are receiving billions a month in federal small business contracts—and the fact that we must take the Pentagon to court should

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Broadcast companies lawyer up against FCC rule requiring transparency on political ad buys

FAC June 13, 2012

In April, the FCC made a new rule requiring online disclosure about political ad purchases by campaigns and outside groups like super PACs.  Pro Publica reports that on Monday, attorneys representing 12 media companies filed a petition asking the FCC to modify the transparency measure.  The petition argues: It is axiomatic that disclosure of price information is anti-competitive and disrupts markets — in this case, not only the local political advertising marketplace but also the

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