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Critic of Inglewood mayor defeats censorship-by-copyright

donal brown August 18, 2015

A few weeks ago we wrote about the thin-skinned mayor of Inglewood who, stung by criticism from a local citizen, went to court to silence him. Oblivious to first amendment protections for free speech, the mayor and his lawyers claimed the critic’s use of clips from videos of city council meetings infringed Inglewood’s copyright. Now a federal judge, having considered those claims, has given them, and the mayor, the back of the hand. Although cities

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FAC amicus brief: agency can’t take back records mistakenly released

Peter Scheer January 23, 2015

FAC has filed an amicus brief in a case testing a local government agency’s power to take back records it has released to a requester under the CPRA. The Newark Unified School District, in releasing documents, mistakenly included records that were subject to the attorney-client privilege. The school district demanded return of the documents and the requester refused. The central issue is whether the inadvertent release of privileged documents causes a “waiver” of the attorney-client

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FAC sues San Diego PD for records on controversial cell phone surveillance technology

Peter Scheer December 16, 2014

The First Amendment Coalition today filed suit against the San Diego Police Department to obtain information about the SDPD’s purchase and use of surveillance equipment that can identify and track all cell phones in a specific location, such as a building, neighborhood or street intersection. “We believe the SDPD has an obligation to tell San Diego citizens that it is using this invasive technology and to describe the steps it is taking, if any, to

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FAC leads amicus filing in case seeking access to records in hands of private firms that contract with government

Peter Scheer December 15, 2014

An open-government coalition led by FAC has filed an amicus brief in a California freedom-of-information case involving access to data of government contractors that the contractors are required, under their agreements wth local government, to create and maintain. In Flynn v. Los Angeles a PRA requester seeks information in databases about the towing and storing of cars parked illegally on LA streets. The towing and storing is handled by private firms under contracts with the

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Water district, in settlement with FAC, agrees to disclose water usage by corporations

Peter Scheer October 30, 2014

A Southern California water district, as part of a settlement of a lawsuit brought by the First Amendment Coalition, has agreed to tell the public how much water each of its corporate customers is pumping from underground aquifers. The Desert Water Agency in Palm Springs had published this information in past years, but changed policy in 2013, ostensibly to protect the “privacy interests” of its corporate customers. The water district relied on section 6254.16 of

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