FAC

A&A: What recourse do individuals with disabilities have to access land use proposals during COVID-19?

SUBMITTED | APRIL 15, 2020 Q: Across California and in my backyard developers are putting in plans, and cities have been starting public comment time clocks without the public’s ability to assemble and easily read the documents. This is especially true for those whoa re disabled, without internet access or who don’t have the skill to load and read hundreds of pages of small print documents and drawings on the internet. Per the 2015 census,

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FAC Condemns Sacramento Police Department’s Flawed Media Policy

A national coalition of media organizations today joins forces to condemn a new media policy from the Sacramento Police Department. The policy, produced by the Department in the wake of the wrongful detention of working journalists reporting on a protest over the death of Stephon Clark, does nothing to prevent the recurrence of such detentions and does not even commit to compliance with all transparency and access laws that already govern law enforcement. In contrast,

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A&A: The public is severely limited in county meeting participation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Is this a Brown Act violation?

SUBMITTED | APRIL 20, 2020 Q: I am writing on behalf of many people in my community who believe that county government is violating the COVID-19 shelter-in-place directives of California Gov. Newsom and the local county Health officer, and the intent of the Brown Act. We seek any help, resources, or pressure you can provide to remedy the problem, as quickly as possible. Many of us have requested in writing and in phone-in comments that

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A&A: Has the public comment requirement changed due to Gov. Newsom’s executive order amid the COVID-19 pandemic?

SUBMITTED | MAY 5, 2020 Q: Has the public comment requirement (Gov. Code, § 54954.3 subd. (a).) changed after Governor Newsom’s executive order? A: In March, Governor Newsom issued executive orders N-25-20 and N-29-20, which temporarily suspended any Brown Act requirements “expressly or impliedly requiring the physical presence of members, the clerk or other personnel of the body, or of the public as a condition of participation in or quorum for a public meeting” during the COVID-19 crisis. Order N-29-20 also states:  “A local

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Bryan Carmody, First Amendment Coalition v. Federal Bureau of Investigation

Bryan Carmody and First Amendment Coalition v. Federal Bureau of InvestigationU.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 20-cv-04809 Updated March 23, 2021: FAC and client Bryan Carmody reached a settlement with the FBI, after the government produced disclosable records and agreed to pay FAC $25,000 in attorney fees and costs. Read the court filing. The First Amendment Coalition and journalist Bryan Carmody filed a federal lawsuit against the FBI after the agency refused

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