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Homeland Security first government agency to harness social media

donal brown July 23, 2009

The Homeland Security Department is the first cabinet-level agency to implement Obama directives on social media, offering a YouTube channel and formulating plans to use Twitter in event of disasters. -DB NextGov July 22, 2009 Associated Press WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Homeland Security Department relaunched its Web site Wednesday and became the first Cabinet-level agency to follow the tech-savvy White House directives on social media. President Barack Obama’s aides have been urging agencies to add interactive components

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Judge says government pension records subject to disclosure

donal brown July 22, 2009

The California Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that names and salaries of government employees are public record but did not specifically mention retirees. A Contra Costa judge has now ruled that that records of county’s pension funds must be disclosed. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise July 15, 2009 By Sherrim M. Okamoto A county’s pension records are not exempt from disclosure pursuant to the Public Records Act, a Contra Costa Superior Court judge has ruled in what is

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Federal court rules government cannot invoke ‘secret law’

donal brown July 21, 2009

In a case involving the export of rifle scopes, the court said the government failed to specify which items that were subject to export regulations making the too vague for the public to comply with. -DB Secrecy News Federation of American Scientists July 20, 2009 “Government must operate through public laws and regulations” and not through “secret law,” a federal appellate court declared in a decision last month.  When our government attempts to do otherwise, the

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Los Angeles plans to shift records from software to Google

donal brown July 21, 2009

The Los Angeles City Council will decide whether to shift e-mails and other public records from its antiquated records retention software to a Google service which experts say could improve public access. The police department is concerned that sensitive arrest records would not be secure in the event of the shift. -DB Los Angeles Times July 17, 2009 By David Zahniser and Phil Willon Frustrated by a slow and antiquated computer system, the city of Los

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Sotomayor indicates support for cameras in Supreme Court

donal brown July 20, 2009

In Senate confirmation hearings, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said she favored camera access in the high court but said should she be confirmed she would act with circumspection in making her views known to the Court. -DB First Amendment Center Analysis July 16, 2009 By Tony Mauro WASHINGTON, D.C. — If the Senate confirms Sonia Sotomayor as the next justice on the Supreme Court, she may become the most unabashed supporter of camera access the

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