Search

Categories

Total Results

No Record Found

View All Results
DONATE

First Amendment News

States responding to federal transparency initiatives with parallel efforts

donal brown December 8, 2009

Since President Barack Obama pledged more openness in government, states have been opening records to the public, of stimulus spending and beyond, using online tools to provide a broad range of data. -DB OMB Watch December 8, 2009 President Barack Obama’s Jan. 21 inaugural promise to lead the most transparent administration in history has had a major impact on federal information technology, which has led to new developments in data reporting at the state level.

Read More »

Obama administration takes serious step toward changing culture of secrecy in government agencies

donal brown December 8, 2009

The Obama administration issued a directive for federal agencies to establish mandatory new information disclosure procedures and opportunities for public participation. -DB Secrecy News Federation of American Scientists Commentary December 8, 2009 By Steven Aftergood In a conscious and far-reaching attempt to change the culture of secrecy that prevails within many government agencies, the Obama Administration today issued a directive (pdf) that orders each federal agency to establish an open government program with mandatory new

Read More »

Reprimands of faculty in campus protest over budget cuts raises serious First Amendment issues

donal brown December 8, 2009

A rally over budget cuts held in a tiny free speech patio at Southwestern College spilled out onto the larger campus, bringing student and faculty protesters into a confrontation with police and garnering reprimands for three faculty members. Some question whether the school administration can under the Constitution make the vast majority of campus a non-public forum. -DB FIRE Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Opinion December 4, 2009 By Peter Bonilla A batch of articles

Read More »

Supreme Court to hear case on right of Christian group on University of California campus to exclude nonbelievers

donal brown December 8, 2009

The Christian Legal Society at UC California’s Hastings College of Law requires members to share their religious views. The Supreme Court will decide if the school can require the group to open its doors to gays, lesbians and non-Christians. -DB San Francisco Chronicle December 8, 2009 By Demian Bulwa SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco can refuse to recognize and fund a Christian

Read More »

Federal workshop on open government meets behind closed doors

donal brown December 7, 2009

The Obama administration’s workshop on government openness for federal employees met behind closed doors. The workshop provided training for freedom-of-information officials. -DB The Seattle Times December 7, 2009 By Sharon Theimer and Matt Apuzzo WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — The Obama administration conducted a workshop on government openness for federal employees behind closed doors Monday, a private training session for freedom-of-information officials to learn about a new U.S. office that settle disputes between the bureaucracy and the

Read More »