First Amendment News

Four animal rights protesters faced federal charges of harassing and threatening researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. The protestoers claim they were only exercising their free speech rights in a demonstration at a professor’s home. -DB San Francisco Chronicle March 20, 2009 By Henry K. Lee Four animal-rights protesters pleaded not guilty Thursday in federal court to charges that they harassed and threatened researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, saying they

A Santa Cruz county judge closed his court to everyone except the defendant, her attorney, and the prosecutor despite state and federal Supreme Court rulings that courtroom proceedings are public.-DB KSBW.com Editorial March 23, 2009 You might not have known it, but this past week has been “Sunshine Week.” That’s not a reference to the weather; Sunshine Week is a national initiative aimed at ensuring our government and all its branches do business openly and

A San Diego County supervisor won a federal court ruling in a suit brought by billionaire Sam Zell who owns the media conglomerate Tribune Co. as well as a number of mobile-home parks. Zell sued the supervisor for making statements critical of his raising rents in three of his parks. -DB The Union-Tribune March 20, 2009 By Greg Moran FEDERAL COURT — A federal judge has again ruled in favor of the county and Supervisor

Two open government groups released a joint report to promote open government policies now under review by the new administration. The report included recommendations for making government more transparent. –DB Center for Democracy & Technology OpenTheGovernment.org March 20, 2009 Press Release Washington, D.C. – The Center for Democracy & Technology and OpenTheGovernment.org today released “Show Us The Data: The Most Wanted Government Documents,” a joint report based on an interactive, user-driven search to identify the

Attorney General Eric Holder issued a memorandum advising the executive branch to presume that government records are public. The Bush administration had a poor record in observing the Freedom of Information Act. -DB Reporter Committee for Freedom of the Press March 19, 2009 By Lucy Dalglish Attorney General Eric Holder issued his much-anticipated memorandum today advising executive branch agencies how the Obama Administration wants the federal Freedom of Information Act to be interpreted. In it,