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First Amendment News

California: Private water board dinners now open to public

donal brown November 12, 2009

The Castaic Lake Water Agency has invited the public to its dinners before board meetings. Despite assurances that no water business was on the table, the dinners could lead to violations of the Brown Act, the state’s open government law. -DB The Signal Santa Clarita Valley November 12, 2009 By Brian Charles For years, Castaic Lake Water Agency board members have had private dinners together before their public board meetings. Until two weeks ago, those dinners

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San Diego ACLU challenges alleged violations of college employees’ free speech rights

donal brown November 12, 2009

In a letter to the Southwestern College president, the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego urged him to repudiate his actions restricting a peaceful demonstration on campus to protest budget cuts. -DB ACLU San Diego and Imperial Counties Press Release November 9, 2009 Saying that a public college “must uphold the highest possible commitment to freedom of speech and exchange of ideas,” the ACLU sent a demand letter to Southwestern College’s president expressing serious

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California court rejects Brown Act argument in upholding firing of librarian

donal brown November 12, 2009

A California appeals court upheld the firing of a San Diego law librarian for a scathing e-mail he sent to his employer. The court removed the librarian’s free speech claims to federal court and rejected the Brown Act argument that claimed that an outside attorney should not have been present during termination hearings. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise November 12, 2009 By Kenneth Ofgang A reference librarian whose work included assisting self-represented litigants with their appeals yesterday

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Online debate between candidate’s son and unidentified writer provokes another dispute over anonymous speech

donal brown November 12, 2009

Citizen Media Law Project blogger Marc Randazza says that although a comment made by an adult to a teen-ager in an online debate was malicious and juvenile, it was not defamatory and should enjoy First Amendment  protection given court decisions on the right to speak anonymously. -DB To read Marc’s full comment, go here: Citizen Media Law Project

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Federal appeals court keeps Chicago police disciplinary records under wrap

donal brown November 12, 2009

The public will not have access to disciplinary records relating to citizen complaints against police in Chicago as a federal appeals court ruled that since the records were never a part of a court proceeding, the public had no right to access them. The police misconduct case was settled out of court. A journalist and 28 alderman were seeking the records. -DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press November 10, 2009 By Kirk Davis

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