First Amendment News

With a team of reporters and editors, journalist Samanth Subramanian, HuffPost, October 28, 2020, completed an exhaustive report of the Trump administration’s four-year record of destroying and distorting data crucial to forming policy and action plans in the public interest. The report starts with the pandemic but includes climate change, protecting the most vulnerable citizens, pollution, using science to form policy, food and agricultural studies, conservation and the census. Science writer Jeff Tollefson, Nature, October

The U.S. Labor Department has asked its enforcement agencies to stop routinely issuing news releases citing companies for violating laws on discrimination, safety, minimum wage and overtime. The memo send to the agencies said it should not issue releases “absent extraordinary circumstances.” The memo said the releases could remain on the record even if the citations were unjustified. (The New York Times, October 23, 2020, by Noam Scheiber) For related FAC coverage click here, here

A health data expert says that the Trump administration is withholding data about the Covid-19 virus to outside researchers that would enable them to devise strategies against its spread. Since March the government has been compiling data on hospitalizations, deaths, testing, timing of social distancing mandates and other information that should be shared. (The New York Times, October 24, 2020, by Christopher J.L. Murray) In July the administration ordered hospitals to bypass the Centers for

The recently enacted AB 992 is the first Brown Act amendment to deal with social media. The Brown Act is the state’s main open meeting law. The amendment allows public officials to communicate with and answer questions of constituents using social media but does not allow them to use social media to discuss official business with other members of their legislative body. (JD Supra, October 21, 2020, by Albert Maldonado and HongDao Nguyen of Best

Mi Familia Vota Education Fund is suing President Donald Trump and his political appointees for intimidating and threatening eligible voters wanting to vote and express support for certain political candidates and political beliefs. Among other acts, Mi Familia Vota said Trump has encouraged his supporters and white supremacists to serve as “poll watchers” to intimidate voters. They also accuse Trump of sending federal law enforcement agents to protests for causes he felt were hostile to