First Amendment News

A national check on how The Associated Press and CNHI News deals with open records requests revealed that too often it took going to court to get the records that by law should have been easily accessible. Fewer that one third of states have authorities that can force government agencies to release public documents. The upshot is that citizens are discouraged in finding out about police procedures, politicians decisions and how public money gets spent.

Jullie Marzouk of The Orange County Register, March 9, 2024, argues that activists are “weaponizing cracks in American democracy” to attack Israel, calling for cease fire, using hate speech and intimidating elected officials. In California they are taking advantage of the Brown Act, the state’s open government law, that allows citizens to address items not on the agenda. The Jewish community in Walnut Creek reacted to an anti-Semitic rant during the public comment session in

Contending that their business model cripples the news industry, Report for America is withdrawing support for hedge fund and private-equity news outlets. Gannett and Tribune Publishing will no longer get new reporters from the Report for America stable. (The Washington Post, March 6, 2024, by Jeremy Barr) Brian Dudley of The Seattle Times, March 6, 2024, argues that the move by Report for America will only hurt local reporting as the chains serve vast numbers

The Justice Department ordered the union of immigration judges to stifle their criticism of the backlog in immigration courts. The union must now get approval to write articles, blogs and to speak to Congress and the news media. The Trump administration ended the union’s collective bargaining rights. (The Associated Press, March 7, 2024, by Elliot Spagat with contributions from Farnoush Amiri) For related FAC coverage, click here.

An Alabama federal district judge ruled that the U.S. Treasury Department could not require small business owners to report information on their owners and others associated with their business. The judge found that the U.S. anti-money laundering law was unconstitutional. Small businesses had contended that the reporting rule was burdensome and violated privacy and free speech rights. (The Associated Press, March 5, 2024, by Fatima Hussein) The court determined that while goal was worthy, Congress