First Amendment News

Venezuelan president clamping down on media

A United States unclassified intelligence report says that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is aggressively silencing his media critics, including bloggers. He has proposed a law that would make it a crime to report on anything the government finds objectionable.  -DB Open Source Center Analysis August 3, 2009 President Chavez’s government is moving forcefully to silence critics by introducing a Media Crimes bill that would give it sweeping authority to jail journalists, media executives, and bloggers who report on

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Groups abound to monitor recovery spending

Besides the government agencies formed to audit recovery spending, there has been a number of other groups set up to help the public track the money and conduct oversight. -DB The Presidential Transition A Weblog of the IBM Center for the Business of Government Commentary August 12, 2009 By John Kamensky The Recovery Act created a huge oversight mechanism and provided more than $350 million for audits and investigations to ensure the $787 billion in the

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Online postings provide challenge for public during health care debate

Opponents of the Obama administration’s health plan are posting online articles that claim to present details of the health plan. But the government’s concerns about the public’s inability to discern the inaccuracies in the postings may be overblown, writes one law student. -DB SuffolkMediaLaw.com Media and Communications Law Society Commentary August 4, 2009 By Denise Ouellet Although the Obama Administration has advocated for a transparent government by encouraging public officials to blog and tweet and by

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Scant information on Supreme Court Web site

The Supreme Court’s Web site does not offer much information including oral arguments and briefs, merit briefs and petitions. -DB NextGov August 7, 2009 By Aliya Sternstein The public had ample opportunity to parse the words of Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Senate Web sites before she was confirmed on Thursday, but when she begins hearing cases from the nation’s top bench in September, the Supreme Court Web site will not provide the same level of accessibility.

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Riverside: Avocacy group for day laborers sues for police records

The National Day Laborer Organizing Network sued the Riverside Police Department to secure complete arrest records for undocumented immigrants. -DB The Press-Enterprise August 4, 2009 By Sonja Bjelland PDF: Writ of mandate filed by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network A day laborer group has sued the Riverside Police Department for records about the agency’s arrests of undocumented immigrants. The National Day Laborer Organizing Network first requested the documents in May and did not receive all

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