firstamendment

Reacting to recent scandals, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is requiring staff and agency executives to put travel reimbursement claims and gift reports online. But when the information is put into pdfs, it is not possible to access it in any intelligible way. -DB CalAware April 2, 2009 CalAware Commentary OPEN GOVERNMENT — We’re going to be a nag about this. Putting public officials’ travel expense claims and other integrity-sensitive information on the Internet as pdfs is

Democatic Senator Gloria Romero has introduced a bill requiring webcasts of monthly meetings that decide how state bond funds are allocated for public school construction and modernization. -DB CalAware April 2, 2009 OPEN GOVERNMENT — Meetings of the State Board of Education and the State Allocation Board—which convenes monthly in the Capitol to decide how state bond funds are allocated for public school construction and modernization—would be videocast live on the Internet and the cable

A school board vice president makes a number of recommendations for making the school board business more open and transparent. -DB Press Banner April 2, 2009 Commentary By Jondi Gumz It’s time to press the reset button on the Scotts Valley Unified School District. The board’s governance handbook says: “We want to be perceived by our community as a governance team that is open and transparent in decision making.” Unfortunately, that might not be the

At the request of a police union, a Superior Court judge in Pasadena has ordered a city police deprtment not to release the names of two police officers involved in the shooting death of an alleged gang member, Leroy Barnes, at a traffic stop last month. The judge’s restraining order preempted the Pasadena Police Department’s intended disclosure of the officers’ names at a press conference this week.-PS LA Times March 31, 2009 PASADENA–A Superior Court

The shield law for journalists met only token opposition in passing a voice vote reserved for non-controversial bills. The bill would allow journalists to protect the identity of their sources with exceptions including national security and protection of life. -DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press March 31, 2009 By Samantha Fredrickson A federal shield bill that would give reporters a qualified privilege from revealing confidential sources was passed by the U.S. House of