Howey v. City of Fresno

On April 18, 2023, Brian Howey, an Oakland-based investigative journalist, sued the City of Fresno under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) for the city’s refusal to release use-of-force records regarding the 2004 death of Michael Sanders, who was tased 10 times–resulting in multiple puncture wounds and severe burns to his groin–by three Fresno police officers. Howey sought these records while researching his story, “After police killings, families are kept in the dark and grilled

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Supreme Court could soon alter First Amendment landscape

The Supreme Court has yet to rule on three cases that could reshape First Amendment law. United States v. Hansen concerns whether the law against encouraging immigration chills speech; Counterman v. Colorado concerns whether someone can be convicted of making true threats without proof that they subjectively intended to threaten the listener; 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis deals with whether a public-accommodation law can regulated an artist’s expression. Next term the court will hear the

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Antique Espionage Act used to attack media sources

Law professor Heidi Kitrosser, Lawfare, June 13, 2023, writes that a provision of the Espionage Act was used by the Trump administration to charge five individuals for leaking information to the press. This is the same provision used to indict Trump, but several of those indicted by the Trump administration sought to release important information to the public or report abuses in government. “There is no magic formula,” writes Kitrosser, “that will strike a perfect

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FAC Urges Alameda Board of Supervisors to Reject Ordinance that Criminalizes Observing or Reporting on Sideshows

UPDATE: On 6/26/2023 FAC and the Society of Professional Journalists sent a second letter to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in advance of their 6/27 meeting reiterating the same points. This afternoon, FAC sent a letter to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors urging them to reject an ordinance that would make it a crime, punishable by up to $1,000 in fines and six months in jail, for being a “spectator” at “sideshows,” informal

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