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Peter Scheer

Will mainstream media match Wikileaks’ technology for receiving leaked documents anonymously and securely? Not likely.

Peter Scheer May 13, 2011

BY PETER SCHEER—Ever since Wikileaks became a household word, traditional news media have had every reason to try to replicate its technology for receiving leaked documents, via the internet, on an anonymous and secure basis. Traditional media may be at war with Julian Assange and disagree fundamentally with his methods in vetting and disseminating classified documents, but they can still see the appeal of a technical mechanism to frustrate eavesdropping on journalists and sources. If

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FAC and Sac Bee, in major court victory, gain access to pension payments, by name, to county retirees

Peter Scheer May 12, 2011

A California appeals court ruled May 11 in favor of FAC and the Sacramento Bee in a case involving public access to information about government pensions. The third district Court of Appeal ruled that the California Public Records Act requires county governments–in this instance, Sacramento–to disclose, by employee name, pension amounts paid to retired county employees. Both the Sacramento Bee and FAC sued the county after being denied the pension information.  San Francisco attorney Karl

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Now Let Us Praise a Famous Man: Rich McKee, 1949-2011

Peter Scheer April 27, 2011

Richard P. McKee, who died this week at age 62, was indefatigable in his advocacy of open government and participatory democracy in California. Co-founder of Calaware and a former Board member and Board President of this organization, Rich cast a big shadow in the world of people committed to shining light on government decision-making in California.  But he cast an even bigger shadow among city councils, school districts and boards of supervisors that had made

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The U.S. is alone among western democracies in protecting “hate speech.” Chalk it up to a healthy fear of government censorship.

Peter Scheer March 14, 2011

BY PETER  SCHEER–An inebriated John Galliano, sitting in a Paris bar, unleashes an anti-semitic rant (“I love Hitler”) that is captured on a cellphone camera and posted on the internet. Within days the Dior designer is not only fired from his job, but is given a trial date to face criminal charges for his offensive remarks. In the same week, the U.S. Supreme Court extends First Amendment protection to the homophobic proclamations of a fringe

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FAC’s Duffy Carolan honored by journalists’ group

Peter Scheer February 15, 2011

First Amendment lawyer Duffy Carolan–who is also a long-time Board member of the First Amendment Coalition–will receive a special honor from the Society of Professional Journalists (NorCal Chapter) at an award ceremony on March 16. Carolan, a lawyer in the San Francisco office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, is receiving the organization’s “Legal Counsel” award in recognition of 20 years of successfully defending media clients, individual journalists and others in free speech, libel, and freedom

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