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donal brown

Federal judge rules corporations can make direct contributions to political candidates

donal brown May 29, 2011

A federal district judge in Virginia ruled that U.S. laws prohibiting corporations form contributing directly to candidates are unconstitutional given last year’s  Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. FEC. That ruling found that corporations and individuals have equal rights to unfettered political expression. The  judge wrote, “For better or worse, Citizens United held that there is no distinction between an individual and a corporation with respect to political speech. Thus, if an individual can make

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California: Open meeting law ignored in demolition of historic Ross schoolhouse

donal brown May 29, 2011

A cherished landmark, the one-room school house in Ross, California, was destroyed without public input sometime in 2007. Hidden from public view on the Ross Common, no one noticed until this year that the century-old building was no longer there. Town officials have found no records showing that the issue was ever placed on a town council agenda for public discussion. That omission could be a violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting

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California public universities agree to transparency for foundations

donal brown May 26, 2011

California state universities have opened the door to transparency for campus foundations with a compromise with state Senator Leland Yee of San Francisco. The agreement will protect the privacy of most donors but allow disclosure of other financial details. The foundations and operations such as campus bookstores would operate under the California Public Records Act. The agreement came after last year’s dispute between Yee and other open government advocates with the foundation at the CSU Stanislaus who

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Federal appeals court orders new trial in defamation suit over election fliers

donal brown May 25, 2011

A federal appeals court has ordered a new trial in a defamation suit voiding the $3.6 million award to a man who maintained that a sheriff libeled him and a friend in fliers before a run-off election in 2000. The fliers said the two friends were criminals. The criminal charge, later dropped, stemmed from an arrest for allegedly working on a construction site without a permit. The appeals court ruled that the majority of the

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Opinion: WikiLeaks needs special recognition and protection

donal brown May 25, 2011

WikiLeaks would be at a disadvantage should it find itself in federal court trying to withhold the identity of a source since it does qualify for reporter’s privilege according to criterion laid out by a federal court of appeals in 1998. The appeals court said to qualify, a person must be practicing investigative reporting, gathering news and from the outset intend to disseminate the news to the public. In an op-ed in Wired, Jonathan W. Peters acknowledges

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