First Amendment News

New York Times editorial asks for strong reform of state secrets policy

The Electronic Frontier Foundation embraces a New York Times editorial that criticizes the new guidelines for invoking the state secrets privilege, arguing that independent court review is essential to prevent abuses of the privilege. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Legislative Analysis September 30, 2009 By Kevin Bankston Today’s New York Times included an excellent editorial on the Obama Adminstration’s new policy toward the state secrets privilege. Echoing EFF’s disappointment in the new procedures, the editorial explains:

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Federal judge allows live coverage of race discrimination trial

Citing the importance of allowing the public to get maximum information about a case alleging racial discrimination in Champaign, Illinois, a federal district judge has allowed television, still camera, and audio coverage in the courtroom. -DB Citizen Media Law Project September 30, 2009 By Eric P. Robinson Watch The News-Gazette’s video of the recent hearing on the final consent decree in a federal lawsuit that alleged racial discrimination in the public schools of Champaign, Illinois,

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Security Exchange Commission lags in meeting information requests

A report from the Inspector General criticized the SEC for granting a small percentage of information requests and at a slow rate compared to other federal agencies. -DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press September 29, 2009 By Ansley Schrimpf The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Inspector General released a report on Friday that sharply criticized the agency’s compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. The report, released just two years after an

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For all its glaring faults, a reviewer finds promise in New Recovery.gov

A Sun Light Labs member examines New Recovery.gov, the government site that tracks stimulus spending, to find a lot needing improvement but a lot to be commended including  contracts and grants in the same venue. -DB Sun Light Labs Review September 29, 2009 By Tom Lee Recovery.gov relaunched yesterday, and we’ve spent some time playing around with the site since then. The verdict? Well, it’s hard to say — the site’s a bit broken. There

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Bloggers cut from senate shield law

Under both House and Senate versions of the federal shield law, only employed journalists will be protected. A former Christian Science Monitor editor says the failure to include citizen journalists ignores the reality of the modern era and who provides accurate, up-to-date news. -DB Citizen Media Law Project Commentary September 28, 2009 By Arthur Bright For citizen journalists, the federal shield law front was looking good for a while. Although the House of Representatives version

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