Search

Categories

Total Results

No Record Found

View All Results
DONATE

News & Opinion

Federal courts rule out broadcast of closing arguments in California same-sex marriage trial

donal brown March 10, 2010

A federal court will not include California’s same-sex marriage trial in its pilot program to broadcast civil proceedings contrary to recent media reports. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press March 9, 2010 By Curry Andrews A federal court in San Francisco announced on Friday that it is not planning to broadcast closing arguments in the trial over California’s gay marriage ban, despite media reports to the contrary. As of now, Judge Vaughn

Read More »

Leading gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown need to show voters, by their own actions, that they are committed to transparency in government. Promises won’t cut it.

Peter Scheer March 9, 2010

BY PETER SCHEER—As California voters begin the process of selecting the next  Governor of the ungovernable Golden State, the leading candidates owe them a demonstration of their commitment to government transparency. All politicians are supportive of open-government “in principle;”  the question is whether they are committed in practice. The best test for that is a candidate’s willingness, before an election, to  disclose information about himself that is not legally required to be disclosed–but that voters

Read More »

California State Assembly Speaker bans texting in session

donal brown March 9, 2010

The new California Assembly Speaker has banned text messaging on the assembly floor prompting skepticism from First Amendment advocates that the ban is enforceable or efficacious. -db CivSource Commentary March 9, 2010 By Bailey McCann Last week, when John A. Perez became California’s new Assembly Speaker a point in his opening speech caught our eye — a new rule limiting text messaging on the Assembly floor. The rule will stop text messages from lobbyists from

Read More »

California: Decision in favor of disclosure in kidnapping case adds starch to publics’ right to government records

donal brown March 9, 2010

A Superior Court  judge strengthened the Public Records Act by ruling that the press and the public had the right to access government records to answer questions about why parole officers did not check on registered sex offender Philip Garrido who had kidnapped a 12-year-old girl and held her captive for 18 years. -db Contra Costa Times Commentary March 8, 2010 By Thomas Peele More than five years ago California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 59,

Read More »

Anonymous speech: Federal court protects identities of posters on news website

donal brown March 9, 2010

A Pennsylvania federal court will not allow a man suing in an employment discrimination case to discover the identities of those making posts on a new website. The man wanted the identities to discredit the testimony of those who fired him. -db Citizen Media Law Project Commentary March 8, 2010 By Sam Bayard Thomas O’Toole at TechLaw points us to an anonymous speech decision issued last week by a federal court in Pennsylvania. In McVicker

Read More »