News & Opinion

The Bancrofts are supposed to use their control of the WSJ to veto buyouts, not to extract a huge premium. If Murdoch buys the paper, the Bancrofts should forfeit their windfall. By Peter Scheer In making his bid to buy Dow Jones, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal, media baron Rupert Murdoch’s crucial insight was that everyone has his (or her) price, even the thirty-five members of the Bancroft family who control ownership

Public schools may take down a student banner stating “Bong Hits 4 Jesus,” the US Supreme Court rules. But not in California. By Anthony Sanchez (CFAC) Student speech promoting drug use can be restricted by public school officials, the Supreme Court ruled earlier this week. But that may not be the case in California because the state Education Code provides greater free speech protection. The new Supreme Court decision, Morse v. Frederick, stems from a

Corporate transparency, long cherished as an essential feature of US capital markets, is giving way to the secrecy of “private equity” deals. Big mistake. By Peter Scheer One of the great strengths of the American economy has been the openness, relatively speaking, of its largest national corporations. Since the advent of federal securities regulation during the New Deal, big businesses have been required—as a condition of their gaining access to U.S. capital markets—to disclose gobs

Extracting information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) takes persistence and understanding one’s rights under FOIA By Nick Rahaim The Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the past months have not only incited fear in immigrant communities across the country, but have caused confusion in the media, public agencies, and community groups that have sought, mostly without success, details about individuals swept up in the raids. The initial information void brings to mind Gestapo-style disappearances

Tracy case tests the power of government officials to avoid disclosure of their emails on public business. Fed up Tracy residents should refuse to pay the officials’ legal fees. By Peter Scheer Those enterprising members of the Tracy City Council have come up with a strategy to hide from public view all their written communications about government business. With a bit of legal legerdemain, they claim to be able to evade state open-government laws, transforming