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FAC

A&A: The mayor blocked people on Facebook after they posted comments in support of Black Lives Matter. Is that illegal?

FAC June 5, 2020

SUBMITTED | JUNE 5, 2020 Q: The mayor of a California city posted some troubling and inaccurate messages about the Black Lives Matter movement on the eve of June 3rd. I responded to her and myself (and numerous others) were blocked by her. She has used this account to discuss city-related matters with residents before. Before I posted to Facebook, I thankfully had copied and pasted my comments onto a document. I know that SCOTUS

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FAC Joins Nationwide Coalition Condemning Police Attacks on Journalists

FAC June 2, 2020

The First Amendment Coalition signed a letter, along with 115 news and press freedom organizations, submitted today to Minnesota officials by the Reporters Committee to Freedom of the Press, condemning police use of force against journalists covering the protests and civil unrest in response to the police killing of George Floyd.  The letter emphasizes that law enforcement does not have legal immunity when officers violate clearly established rights under the First Amendment. And while the

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California Supreme Court Stops Cities From Charging Steep Fees for Video Redactions

FAC May 28, 2020

The California Supreme Court today issued an opinion preventing government agencies from charging the public for editing and compiling police body camera footage and other electronic records before the records are released. The First Amendment Coalition and the California News Publishers Association filed an amicus brief in the case, National Lawyers Guild v. City of Hayward. We urged the court to find that agencies cannot require members of the public to pay for redaction costs regardless

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A&A: Is It Illegal for a Congressional Candidate to Block Political Opponents from Their Twitter Feed?

FAC May 23, 2020

Q: A candidate running for Congress has blocked one of his opponents from viewing his Twitter feed. Is that illegal? I know it’s unconstitutional for an elected official to block people on Twitter if they are discussing public business. Does that apply to candidates, too? A: As you can imagine, this issue has not been extensively litigated, so the state of the law is still in flux. Preliminarily, however, I can tell you that the First Amendment

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A&A: Does the California Public Records Act Allow Agencies to Extend Deadline for Retrieving Records from 14-Days to Months?

FAC May 21, 2020

Q: I submitted a public records request about six weeks ago. The state agency responded promptly requesting a lengthy extension. Are they allowed to ask for so much time to gather records? When are they only allowed a 14-day extension and when can they claim they need more time? I did not push when they asked for more time because I was busy with other projects. Now I’m wondering, should I have been more assertive

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