Coalition News

FAC Succeeds in Unsealing Search Warrant Executed on SF Journalist Bryan Carmody

A San Francisco judge yesterday ordered police to publicly release sealed documents relating to a search warrant executed on freelance journalist Bryan Carmody, whose home and office were raided by SFPD in an unlawful show of force that shocked journalists and free-press advocates across the country. The order, the result of a motion filed by the First Amendment Coalition along with two press-advocacy groups, requires the San Francisco Police Department to release, by Tuesday, their

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RSVP: The Future of Free Expression Online in America

The exponential rise of hate speech, fake news, and terror content has led to growing pressure for major internet platforms and governments around the world to regulate greater amounts of online content, while also upholding free speech principles. In the U.S., the First Amendment limits the ability of the U.S. government to regulate online speech and as a result, vital free expression decisions are left in the hands of internet platforms themselves. What best practices

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FAC Receives $100k Gift from Craig Newmark Philanthropies

FAC has received a $100,000 gift from Craig Newmark Philanthropies to support the organization’s work to defend free speech, the free press, and public participation in civic affairs. This generous and substantial commitment will enable FAC to continue to grow its programs and reach new audiences—work that is more important than ever in light of unprecedented threats to the First Amendment and the public’s right to know. The gift from Craig Newmark, the founder of craigslist and

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FAC Prevails in Effort to Force CA Attorney General to Disclose Police Misconduct Files

A San Francisco judge today ordered California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to begin disclosing police-misconduct files sought by the First Amendment Coalition (FAC)—a victory for government transparency against one of the few remaining police agencies in the state to refuse to comply with Senate Bill 1421, California’s new landmark police transparency bill that went into effect on Jan. 1. San Francisco Superior Court judge Richard B. Ulmer, Jr. soundly rejected the Attorney General’s claim that

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FAC Moves to Unseal Search Warrants in Illegal Police Raid on SF Journalist

The First Amendment Coalition (FAC) today filed a motion to unseal the San Francisco Police Department’s applications for two search warrants in the case of journalist Bryan Carmody, whose home and office police raided last week, sparking national outrage from press advocates, civil libertarians and many others. Why two judges authorized those warrants—which appear to be illegal under both California and federal law—remains a mystery since the police department’s applications for the warrants are under seal

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