donal brown

February 5, 2019 by donal brown Those wanting answers about the funding of President Donald Trump’s inauguration were heartened by reports that New York’s Southern District prosecutors subpoenaed documents on the donors and possible benefits the donors received in return. Investigators are especially interested in the contributions of foreign guests at the inauguration. (ABC News, February 4, 2019, by John Santucci, Josh Margolin and Matthew Mosk) The New York Times reported last month that with the $107

A legal challenge is underway to gain better access to federal court records, calling fees charged by PACER, the federal courts’ electronic docket system, excessive. Former Senator Joe Lieberman argued that PACER fees made it difficult for all members of the public to obtain records. And news outlets said they could not afford the fees in times of declining revenues for the news industry. A group of former federal judges argued that there should be

January 31, 2019 by donal brown A federal judge refused to unseal criminal charges against Wikileaks Julian Assange, the existence of which was mistakenly revealed in another case. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press petitioned the federal court in Virginia for records of the charges arguing that the proof was there that Assange had been charged and the public had the right to know the details. The U.S. attorney’s office countered that although there was

A federal district court in California ruled for Greenpeace and others in dismissing over 200 claims by a Canadian logging company  in a SLAPP lawsuit (strategic lawsuits against public participation) intended to silence protected speech. (EarthRights International, January 23, 2019, press release) SLAPP and RICO, the law on racketeering, are often used by powerful companies to intimidate critics and deny them to right to protest. (Freedom of the Press Foundation, January 23, 2019, by Camille Fassett)

A California appeals court rejected a bid for access to an electronic data base of vehicles private towing companies impounded at the request of the police department. The court ruled that the city’s right to access to the data base did not constitute possession. (Justia, January 22, 2019) A civil rights lawyer filed a public records request with the Los Angeles Police Department for the impoundment records. While the department had access to the database, the data