News & Opinion

A clean, well-lighted public right By Paul Gullixson In the book “Team of Rivals,” author Doris Kearns Goodwin details a private meeting in early 1865 between President Lincoln and a commission sent by Confederate President Jefferson Davis to discuss terms for peace. When Lincoln’s critics in Congress – particularly the “radicals” who wanted the Confederate states to not only be defeated but to be reorganized and renamed – got wind of the meeting, they were

The Libby trial highlights the hypocrisy of players in Washington’s favorite pastime: the political scandal By Peter Scheer The conviction of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby on charges of obstruction of justice, perjury, and lying to the FBI (yes, lying to the FBI, even when not under oath, is a felony) ratchets up the risks of working in a high level job in the executive branch. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing depends almost

The BALCO reporters had a slimy source, we now know. Did the reporters also get slimed? By Peter Scheer Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada can’t get a break. For nearly a year the San Francisco Chronicle reporters lived under the constant and very real threat of imprisonment–like a sword of Damocles over their heads–for their refusal to name their source for grand jury testimony in the BALCO steroids-in-sports investigation. Finally the sword lifted, as the

Nicole Wong, Deputy General Counsel of Google, has joined the Board of Directors of the California First Amendment Coalition, the free speech and open-government advocacy group. An expert on legal issues concerning technology and the internet, Ms. Wong has responsibility at Google for litigation and legal strategies for all Google products. Before joining Google, she was a partner at Perkins Coie, a Seattle-based law firm, where she represented both traditional media companies–including Hearst Corporation, McClatchy

No more slaps on the wrist: Public Spankings for violators of open-government laws by Peter Scheer Assemblywoman Sally Lieber achieved her 15 minutes of fame (or was it infamy?) by proposing that California criminalize the spanking of children. While few legislators seem to want to follow the San Jose Democrat off this particular cliff, Lieber’s idea does suggest another possible connection between government and spanking. A source of great frustration to advocates of government openness