First Amendment News

Three Republican Wisconsin state legislators were found to have violated the free speech rights of a liberal group when they blocked it from their Twitter feeds. One Wisconsin Now hailed the federal court decision writing in an e-mail: “Elected officials can’t exclude people from public forums just because they don’t agree with their political views or don’t want to hear what they may have to say.” (The Cap Times, January 18, 2019, by Katelyn Ferral) They judge

The lack of transparency in the California’s rejection of 10 of former Governor Jerry Brown’s clemency requests has riled court observers. The court stated last March they would  override not on merit but only if there was an abuse of power. But since the court seals clemency cases, it is impossible to know if the court saw abuses of power in those 10 cases. (ABA Journal, January 11, 2019, by Lorelei Laird) The court rejected

The Cato Institute is suing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for their policy forbidding discussion of civil settlements under threat of punishment. The Cato Institute wants to publish a book written by a man who claims he was a victim of  SEC “prosecutorial abuse.” Ninety-eight percent of SEC cases end in settlements, but the public is not allowed to see the details and to determine if someone operating with limited resources has been coerced into accepting

Transparency of government agencies is taking a hit as the government shutdown extends over a month’s time. ICE shut down its media office for lack of funding. Food safety inspections were suspended for 23 days and Freedom of Information Act requests are on hold. (Newsweek, January 16, 2019, by Chantal da Silva) The shutdown also jeopardizes the work of inspectors general charged with government audits and keeping operations free of fraud and waste. Cuts have

With the passage of a California law requiring the release of police misconduct records, recent public records requests reveal a number of instances in which police departments in the Bay Area failed to adequately inform the public. The Fremont Police Department reported 8 cases of police conduct in 2017 but details were never made public. In Burlingame, the police department fired an officer for offering to help a woman charged with a DUI if she