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donal brown

U.S. Supreme Court hears Nevada case on whether recusal rules interfere with First Amendment rights

donal brown April 28, 2011

In hearing a case on recusal rules and the First Amendment, the Supreme Court seemed to doubt that conflict of interest rules could run afoul of the First Amendment. The case concerned a Sparks city council member reprimanded for casting a vote on a issue involving his campaign manager. The man’s lawyer argued that not all ethics laws were unconstitutional but that the Nevada law was vague and excessively far-reaching to the point of denying

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Business lobby opposed to order requiring government contractors to disclose political donations

donal brown April 27, 2011

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce made it known to the Obama administration that they oppose its plan to require government contractors to disclose their political donations. The Chamber argued that disclosures would chill the free speech rights of businesses and cited the case of Target which suffered boycotts and protests after the revelation that the company contributed to a group that supported a candidate opposed to gay marriage. -db From The New York Times, April

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Study shows traditional media plays crucial role in enforcing open govenment

donal brown April 26, 2011

Research by a Brigham Young professor revealed that newspapers are behind almost every court case and law promoting public access and open government. With newspaper revenues shrinking, it is not guaranteed that as bloggers take over much of the reporting that they will be able to challenge government agencies. The online news publication ProPublica that does investigative reports is fortunate to have pro bono legal work, but others may have to bank on greater transparency

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First Amendment: Supreme Court to decide on limits on data mining for commercial purposes

donal brown April 26, 2011

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about whether a state may prohibit the purchase of doctor prescription records by pharmaceutical sales representatives. While patient privacy is protected, doctors enjoy no privacy so pharmaceutical companies seek data on which drugs and brands doctors prescribe. The companies are contending that a Vermont law allowing doctors to elect to keep their prescription information private violates the First Amendment rights of data miners and denies information to

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California: Santa Ana City Council commits possible open meeting violation

donal brown April 26, 2011

The Santa Ana City Council voted last week to settle a lawsuit concerning a housing project but in doing so may have violated the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, since the public was not allowed to comment on the settlement. The council took the vote precipitously to accommodate a council member who had another engagement. Three others on the council could not vote because of a conflict of interest so the council needed to

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