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FAC, ACLU Sue for Public Access to Kern County Superior Court

FAC June 26, 2020

BAKERSFIELD — A cornerstone of our democracy is that court hearings and trials are not held in secret. But that’s what happening in Kern County Superior Court where proceedings — including jury trials — are being held out of public view.  In-person access was originally cut off because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but courts across the nation, including many in California, have provided video or audio feeds of court proceedings. In most cases in Kern

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Victory: California Appeal Court Orders Records Unsealed

FAC April 15, 2020

A California appeal court today issued an important opinion affirming the public’s right of access to court records.  The Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles sided with FAC and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, finding that records in a civil case had been improperly hidden from the public. A unanimous three-judge panel cited the common law and constitutional right of access to judicial records, and found the superior court failed to make the appropriate

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FAC Prevails in Lawsuit Against Bakersfield Over Open Meetings, Records Violations

FAC January 10, 2020

The First Amendment Coalition has prevailed in a lawsuit against the city of Bakersfield, with a judge ruling that the city council violated open-government laws when it held three closed-door sessions to discuss city finances and then refused to release public records related to those meetings.  The ruling, a complete victory for FAC and Californians Aware, which sued to enforce California’s open-meetings and open-records laws, requires the city to turn over records, record any future

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FAC Moves to Unseal Records in BART Station Murder Case

FAC October 31, 2019

The First Amendment Coalition today asked a judge to unseal records in the criminal case against John Lee Cowell, the man charged in the stabbing death of teenager Nia Wilson at an Oakland BART station in 2018. FAC’s motion to unseal comes after Cowell’s attorney filed a secret motion to toss all charges, potentially preventing the public from knowing anything about what legal arguments or evidence Cowell is using to try to end his case

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FAC Sues San Francisco Police, Mayor Breed for Records Related to Raid on Journalist

FAC August 20, 2019

The First Amendment Coalition today continued its fight for transparency in the police raid on a San Francisco journalist, filing a lawsuit over city officials’ refusal to release public records.  FAC sued the San Francisco Police Department and Mayor London Breed under the California Public Records Act and San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance, an effort to vindicate the public’s right to understand the political and law-enforcement decisions that led to the now infamous May 10 search

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