donal brown

San Carlos police union challenges council member on comment about labor negotiations

The San Carlos police union is alleging that a city council member violated open meeting laws in making comments in a public meeting about contract negotiations. the comment suggested that the union might be dragging heels on contract talks to see the outcome of a sales tax increase on the November ballot. -DB San Jose Mercury News October 16, 2009 By Shaun Bishop San Carlos’ city attorney said he plans to investigate the police union’s

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Federal court bars display of Confederate flag in Texas high school

A federal circuit court held that a Texas high school could ban clothing displaying the Confederate flag given a history of racial violence and discord in the school, over 50  incidents since 2002. -DB Courthouse News Service October 14, 2009 By Annie Youderian (CN) – Citing a history of racial tension, the 5th Circuit upheld a high-school dress code in Texas barring students from displaying the Confederate flag. Burleson High School adopted the policy in

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Stimulus fund recipients post spending records online

Those awarded stimulus fund contracts are complying with government requirements to post the details of their expenditures online, so far submitting 112,000 reports to the data collection Web site. -DB NextGov October 14, 2009 By Aliya Sternstein Stimulus fund recipients appear to be complying with requirements to report their spending activities online. As of Wednesday recipients had submitted 112,000 spending reports to the federal government’s data collection Web site, according to the board monitoring stimulus

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Jury reinforces tenant that truth is defense in libel cases

In a closely watched trial, a Massachusetts jury found that a truthful mass e-mail criticizing an office supply company employee is not libelous because it was not sent with actual malice. A federal appeals court had found that the truth can be libelous. -DB The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press October 13, 2009 By Cristina Abello A Massachusetts jury has decided that a truthful mass e-mail criticizing the former employee of an office

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Chances fading of reining in government secrecy granted under Patriot Act

Civil libertarians may be losing the battle to curb  government excess as the Obama administration is loathe to relinquish the power to operate in secrecy without the checks provided by judicial oversight. -DB Center for Internet and Society Stanford Law School Commentary October 7, 2009 By Larry Downes “Patriotism,” as Samuel Johnson famously said, “is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” In that sense, perhaps the USA PATRIOT Act is appropriately named after all. In

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