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FAC Forces Disclosure of CA Gov. Brown’s Request to Pardon Former State Sen. Wright

FAC January 4, 2019

Nearly 300 pages of previously secret documents became public yesterday after the First Amendment Coalition (FAC) filed a motion to unseal records regarding Gov. Jerry Brown’s effort to pardon former state Sen. Rod Wright. The documents—some still heavily redacted—had been originally filed under seal as part of a flawed, longstanding practice in which all papers filed with the high court as part of a governor’s pardon request are automatically treated as confidential. Such automatic sealing is

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Victory for Transparency: CA Supreme Court Rejects Police Union Effort to Gut Landmark Police Transparency Law

FAC January 2, 2019

In a significant victory for government transparency and accountability, the California Supreme Court today denied a police union’s last-minute effort to undermine the effectiveness of a new, landmark police transparency law, rejecting the union’s effort to make the law (SB 1421) apply only to records created after January 1, 2019. The First Amendment Coalition (FAC) led a coalition of media groups in opposing the union’s effort, filing papers on December 28 urging the Court to deny the

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FAC, Media Coalition Oppose Last-Ditch Effort to Gut Landmark Police Transparency Law

FAC December 28, 2018

A coalition of media groups led by the First Amendment Coalition (FAC) today filed briefing in the California Supreme Court to oppose a police union’s effort to undermine the effectiveness of a new, landmark police transparency law. The law requires a wide range of records relating to police misconduct to be available to the public—a sweeping change in California law. Prior to the bill’s enactment in September, California was one of a handful of states

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Everyone Hates Julian Assange—Except For That Time They Used to Love Him

FAC December 14, 2018

The bipolar, bipartisan love/hate for the Wikileaks founder threatens the First Amendment and has clouded the true nature of the fundamental rights at stake. BY DAVID SNYDER—It’s not hard to find people in Washington with strong opinions about Wikileaks and its founder, Julian Assange. But good luck finding someone with an opinion about Assange that hasn’t flipped 180 degrees (and maybe back again) over the past ten years. Assange has managed the rare feat of

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A&A: Obtaining HHS/Child Protective Services Records Via CPRA

FAC December 13, 2018

Q: Recently I had an erroneous claim filed against me through child protective services alleging child neglect. This was quickly marked as ‘unfounded’ and closed.  However, the agency will not give me access to either the initial report filed or the filing party’s name. The only information they are giving me access to is to request a summary of my meeting with the case worker and an overview of the case. I feel that as an

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