Peter Scheer

Edward Snowden, leaker extraordinaire of classified NSA documents, is said to be seeking an extension of his political asylum in Russia, where he has resided, beyond the reach of US jurisdiction and under legal protection granted by Vladimir Putin personally, for a little over one year. Snowden seems to be settling in for the long haul as a fugitive expatriate. He is making a big mistake. At some point Snowden must return to the US

The US Justice Department has advised FAC that it plans to release a second redacted memo analyzing the legality of the government’s proposed use of force to kill al-Aulaqi, a US citizen who had joined Al Qaeda and taken on operational functions for Al-Qaeda’s  operations in Yemen. Al-Aulaqi was subsequently killed in a 2010 drone attack.The disclosure about the second memo was made in a filing in FAC’s FOIA suit against the Justice Department, which

The US Supreme Court has declined to review a lower court order directing New York Times journalist James Risen to testify about his confidential sources for reporting on secret US efforts to undermine Iran’s nuclear program. Be thankful that the Court took a pass. Although the First Amendment Coalition  joined a legal brief urging the Court to hear Risen’s appeal, I confess to having signed on with misgivings (and fingers crossed). Not because I don’t

June has been a busy month for FAC, both legislatively and judicially. Most gratifying: California voters on June 4 approved, by a comfortable 61 percent margin, Prop 42, which amends the state constitution to fortify state open meetings and FOI laws. FAC supported and sponsored Prop 42 to end funding disputes between local governments and the state that have given local governments a legal excuse to opt out of open-government laws. Prop 42, by clarifying