First Amendment News

Tobacco company Philip Morris has filed suit to challenge, on first amendment grounds, a new San Francisco law banning sales of cigarettes in pharmacies. The San Francisco Chronicle reports on the legal arguments used by the company and the city: (10-09) 17:58 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Philip Morris’ argument that San Francisco’s new ban on tobacco sales in drugstores violates freedom of speech was derided Thursday by the city’s lawyers, who said the First Amendment

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday signed into law legislation that amends the Public Records Act to forbid enforcement of confidentiality provisions in contracts signed by government agencies. The bill, SB 1696 by Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), specifically prohibits a state or local agency from entering into an agreement that makes information confidential or conditions disclosure on the permission of the other party to the contract. In addition, the bill would specify that regardless of

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday signed legislation to strengthen the Brown Act’s prohibition against serial meetings. SB 1732 explicitly overturns a 2006 court decision, Wolfe v. City of Fremont, which ruled that communications among members of a legislative body do not run afoul of the bar on “serial meetings” unless the members actually reach a decision on how to vote on a matter before the body. The new law provides: “A majority of the members

How to test website from behind “Great Firewall” Websitepulse.com, a commercial server and website testing service, has a tool you can use to test the accessibility, from behind China’s “Great Firewall,” of a specific website. The tool not only shows whether a site is blocked, but also compares load times from an internet connection inside China and selected connections outside China. Here’s the page on websitepulse.