Search

Categories

Total Results

No Record Found

View All Results
DONATE

First Amendment News

Tulare County: Supervisors missing the point in efforts to justify private lunch meetings

donal brown March 25, 2010

A Visalia Times-Delta  editorial argues that the Tulare County supervisors are violating the state’s open meeting law by convening as often as three times a week for lunch not open to the public. The supervisors are writing a policy to justify the practice which they claim is for the purpose of team building rather than to conduct official business. -db Visalia Times-Delta Editorial March 11, 2010 Tulare County supervisors apparently believe the only thing wrong with

Read More »

Calaveras County: Citizens claim open meeting violation in silencing speaker

donal brown March 25, 2010

Residents of Calaveras County are rising to the defense of a fellow citizen whom the Board of Supervisors shut down while he was delivering a diatribe against a supervisor. They say the state’s open government law does not permit shutting down speakers just for critical comments. -db Calaveras Enterprise March 25, 2010 By Claudette Langley A Calaveras County Board of Supervisors action earlier this month not only triggered protests from residents, but may have also violated

Read More »

Open government: California lawmakers consider limits on text messaging

donal brown March 25, 2010

As local governments are struggling with the issue of government officials texting and e-mailing during meetings, the state legislature is considering a law preventing lobbyists from texting lawmakers on the floor or in committee. Open government advocates say that electronic devices are difficult to monitor, and one advocate suggests that full disclosure of contacts with special interests would do more to ensure transparency. -db Weekly Calistogan March 25, 2010 By John Waters Jr. It’s may be

Read More »

Law school groups back Hastings in discrimination case

donal brown March 23, 2010

University of California’s Hastings College of Law has gained the support of several law groups in its case before the Supreme Court scheduled for argument on April 19. The school’s Christian Legal Society brought suit to operate on campus with a policy that excludes gays and lesbians. -db The National Law Journal March 22, 2010 By Karen Sloan Law school organizations are lining up behind the University of California Hastings College of the Law in

Read More »

Sunlight Foundation wants freedom of information law for Internet

donal brown March 23, 2010

The Sunlight Foundation argues that in the Internet age it is imperative to require the government to post public information in a timely and user-friendly way. It supports Public Online Information Act, a law that modernizes government disclosure. -db Sunlight Foundation Opinion March 23, 2010 In the age of the Internet, government is transparent only when public information is available online. The Sunlight Foundation supports the Public Online Information Act (POIA), legislation that embraces a

Read More »