firstamendment

Call for Nominations for Annual Bill Farr Award The California First Amendment Coalition and the California Society of Newspaper Editors are seeking nominations for the 2007 Bill Farr Award, given each year to an individual or group for exemplary work to further principles of free speech, free press and public access to government. The award is given in honor of former Los Angeles Herald Examiner reporter Bill Farr, who went to jail in 1971 after

Call for Nominations for Beacon and Darkness Awards The California First Amendment Coalition is seeking nominations for its annual Beacon and Darkness awards, given in recognition of exceptional efforts, during 2006 and 2007, to advance and defend open-government and freedom of speech (Beacon Awards), and the opposite: exceptional efforts to curtail public access and free expression (Darkness Awards). Deadline for award nominations is September 28. The awards will be presented at CFAC’s annual Free Speech

The Bancrofts are supposed to use their control of the WSJ to veto buyouts, not to extract a huge premium. If Murdoch buys the paper, the Bancrofts should forfeit their windfall. By Peter Scheer In making his bid to buy Dow Jones, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal, media baron Rupert Murdoch’s crucial insight was that everyone has his (or her) price, even the thirty-five members of the Bancroft family who control ownership

Public schools may take down a student banner stating “Bong Hits 4 Jesus,” the US Supreme Court rules. But not in California. By Anthony Sanchez (CFAC) Student speech promoting drug use can be restricted by public school officials, the Supreme Court ruled earlier this week. But that may not be the case in California because the state Education Code provides greater free speech protection. The new Supreme Court decision, Morse v. Frederick, stems from a

Corporate transparency, long cherished as an essential feature of US capital markets, is giving way to the secrecy of “private equity” deals. Big mistake. By Peter Scheer One of the great strengths of the American economy has been the openness, relatively speaking, of its largest national corporations. Since the advent of federal securities regulation during the New Deal, big businesses have been required—as a condition of their gaining access to U.S. capital markets—to disclose gobs