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Freedom of assembly: Police evict ‘Occupy Oakland’ campers arresting 85

donal brown October 25, 2011

Oakland police swept through a City Hall plaza arresting 85 people protesting economic inequality and corporate greed. The city said it was necessary to maintain public safety and sanitation. The mayor said the protesters had a constitutional right to protest during the day but that injuries and criminal activities in the evening left the city no alternative than to raid the encampment. -db From the San Francisco Chronicle, October 25, 2011, by Demian Bulwa and

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WikiLeaks’ Assange says site in peril from U.S. blockade

donal brown October 25, 2011

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said WikiLeaks may have to shut down by next year since the financial blockade organized by the United States has turned off the spigot of donations. Assange charged that with Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union refusing to provide conduits for donations the site’s revenues have fallen to five percent of their previous flow making it impossible to continue processing thousands of secret documents. -db From The New York Times, October

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Same-sex trial videos remain sealed – for now

FAC October 25, 2011

Video recordings of last year’s same-sex marriage trial in California will remain under seal pending further review, a federal appeals court has decided. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said it must determine whether release of the videos would serve the public interest without compromising the safety of witnesses for Prop. 8, the state initiative that banned same-sex marriage. Full story

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A&A: Who is allowed to access arrest records?

FAC October 25, 2011

Q: I submitted a request for  arrest and incident reports from a police department for a case involving my client but I got a call from someone in the Records Department who said that I needed to submit signed authorization from my client. Is that the case in your practice? A: If a person were submitting a request for reports under the Public Records Act, then there would be no requirement to submit any kind

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A&A: Making an FOIA request regarding border security

FAC October 25, 2011

Q: I’m an investigative reporter trying to obtain information from the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection (about 32 miles of the northern border are considered secure) and about the number of drugs, guns and weapons crossing over the border. I also need information on staffing levels compared to the southern border and drug, weapons, guns total. They say some information can’t be provided because it’s “law enforcement sensitive.” Is that a

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