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Coalition News

FAC Urges Appeal Court to Reject Ventura Sheriff Union’s Effort to Weaken Police Transparency Law

FAC February 7, 2020

Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association v. County of Ventura et al. Update March 3, 2021: The appeal court ruled in favor of transparency, finding that California’s SB1421 “Right to Know Act” applies to records created before the law took effect Jan. 1, 2019. Read the opinion. Read the amicus brief filed by the First Amendment Coalition Court: California’s Second District Court of Appeal  About the case: On January 1, 2019, California’s landmark law known as

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FAC Receives James Madison Freedom of Information Award from SPJ NorCal

FAC February 6, 2020

The First Amendment Coalition was named a 2020 recipient of the James Madison Freedom of Information Award given by the Society of Professional Journalists’ NorCal Chapter in recognition of organizations and individuals who have advanced principles of free speech and open government. In recognizing FAC as the nonprofit awardee, SPJ NorCal highlighted FAC’s strategic litigation in Northern California and beyond that led to greater access to government records. From SPJ NorCal’s announcement: When San Francisco

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FAC Wins Important Ruling for Police Transparency in California

FAC January 30, 2020

The First Amendment Coalition won an important legal victory in its year-long effort to enforce California’s landmark police transparency law, with an appeals court saying the public has a right to see police misconduct records the state attorney general has on local officers across the state.  The Wednesday ruling means the state’s top law enforcement official, whose agency conducts outside reviews of local police shootings and complaints of officer misconduct, has the same disclosure obligations

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FAC, Committee to Protect Journalists ask San Francisco mayor to protect press freedoms

FAC January 21, 2020

FAC and the Committee to Protect Journalists sent a letter to San Francisco Mayor London Breed today requesting a meeting about steps the city can take to ensure press freedom.  The letter asked Breed to address police officers’ use of five warrants to search the home, office and electronics of freelance journalist Bryan Carmody as part of an investigation into how he obtained a police report. Noting that the mayor in May said that the

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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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