News & Opinion

On Independence Day 2008, words to remember from Independence Day 1776: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” The full text: When in the Course of

Don’t pass new laws to try to curb the abuses of paparazzi. To force the paparazzi to clean up their act, turn the cameras on them. By Peter Scheer You know summer is here when hordes of paparazzi descend, locust-like, on southern California beaches, angering locals as they pursue money-shots of sun-tanning celebrities—while politicians, seeing an opportunity for self-promotion, promise new laws to tame the unruly photogs. It has become a political rite of summer:

PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK WITH PUBLIC RECORDS By Karl Olson It’s not unusual for newspapers, or lawyers in Public Records Act or Freedom of Information Act cases, to accuse the government of trying to “hide” things. Now a San Bernardino County case has revealed what may be a criminal attempt at hiding public records, just in time for a Fourth of July reminder about the importance of access to information about government. San Bernardino County

California First Amendment Coalition to Tell Congressional Commission that China’s Internet Censorship Violates WTO Treaties CFAC, June 16, 2008–The California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC) will testify before a Congressional commission this week concerning the Chinese government’s system of internet censorship, which CFAC is challenging as a violation of free trade treaties enforced by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The hearings on “Access to Information and Media Control in the People’s Republic of China” are being

Will All Judges Who Have Viewed Porn Please Stand Up? By Peter Scheer As the whole world now knows, federal appeals court judge Alex Kozinski has looked at pornography and has stored some pornographic files on a personal, nonpublic website. This revelation, and the invasion of privacy that it entails, are apparently justified by the fact that Kozinski is currently presiding, as a temporary trial judge, over a high-profile obscenity prosecution in Los Angeles. Judge