donal brown

Groups abound to monitor recovery spending

Besides the government agencies formed to audit recovery spending, there has been a number of other groups set up to help the public track the money and conduct oversight. -DB The Presidential Transition A Weblog of the IBM Center for the Business of Government Commentary August 12, 2009 By John Kamensky The Recovery Act created a huge oversight mechanism and provided more than $350 million for audits and investigations to ensure the $787 billion in the

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Online postings provide challenge for public during health care debate

Opponents of the Obama administration’s health plan are posting online articles that claim to present details of the health plan. But the government’s concerns about the public’s inability to discern the inaccuracies in the postings may be overblown, writes one law student. -DB SuffolkMediaLaw.com Media and Communications Law Society Commentary August 4, 2009 By Denise Ouellet Although the Obama Administration has advocated for a transparent government by encouraging public officials to blog and tweet and by

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Scant information on Supreme Court Web site

The Supreme Court’s Web site does not offer much information including oral arguments and briefs, merit briefs and petitions. -DB NextGov August 7, 2009 By Aliya Sternstein The public had ample opportunity to parse the words of Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Senate Web sites before she was confirmed on Thursday, but when she begins hearing cases from the nation’s top bench in September, the Supreme Court Web site will not provide the same level of accessibility.

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Stanislaus retirement board denies requests for pension amounts

The Stanislaus County Employees’ Retirement Association has denied a request under the California Public Records Act for the names of retirees with annual pensions over $100,000. -DB The Modesto Bee August 10, 2009 By Ken Carlson The Stanislaus County Employees’ Retirement Association has refused to release records about public service employees receiving the most lucrative pensions. The retirement board, in a July 31 letter, denied The Bee’s Freedom of Information Act request for the names of

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Riverside: Avocacy group for day laborers sues for police records

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network sued the Riverside Police Department to secure complete arrest records for undocumented immigrants. -DB The Press-Enterprise August 4, 2009 By Sonja Bjelland PDF: Writ of mandate filed by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network A day laborer group has sued the Riverside Police Department for records about the agency’s arrests of undocumented immigrants. The National Day Laborer Organizing Network first requested the documents in May and did not receive all

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