firstamendment

Electronic Filing of Campaign Disclosure Data Q: After about a year of advocacy, I have convinced the city to adopt campaign finance e-filing and publishing of campaign finance disclosure data on the city’s web site.  But the city council has directed the city clerk to redact campaign contributor street addresses in the online data.  However, unredacted disclosure data will continue to be available to members of the public who contact the city clerk’s office directly

Appellate Case Court Records Q: I made an FOIA request to the appellate court for list of cases (included those unpublished) filed for appeal relating to two Superior Court judges for the past 5 years. Their response was a letter stating they didn’t have any cases on file for me. There is, in fact a case on file but not what I asked for. I made 2nd FOIA request for same information. And their response

Third-Party Settlements Q: Last year, the city of Los Angeles settled a lawsuit by several outdoor advertising companies.  The settlement, approved by the Superior Court in Feb. 2007, included a requirement that the companies submit to the city a complete inventory of all their off-site advertising signs, including location and permit status.  A public request for this information has been denied, citing the following section of the settlement: “Nothing herein shall prevent the City from

Golden Gate Bridge suicide records Q: I recently made a request to the Golden Gate Bridge and Transportation District for copies of all incident reports from 2006 regarding suicides at the Golden Gate Bridge, attempted suicides, and interrupted suicides.  I had made a similar request for the records from 2004 a few years ago and was provided with the documents I requested. This time, however, the District responded that they had changed their policy and