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Billionaire backs website on federal government travel expenditures

donal brown October 24, 2011

Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is bankrolling a website run by Chris Carey, a Michigan journalist, with information about government travel spending. The site is  JunketSleuth.com and offers searchable records of travel spending of federal officials and Congressional leaders. JunketSleuth’s “main purpose is transparency and accountability,” said Carey. “People in Washington are saying we have this terrible financial crisis now, both with annual budget deficits and long-term federal debt issues. And yet some people

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Pennsylvania wiretap law runs up against First Amendment

donal brown October 24, 2011

An auction company president filed a federal  lawsuit against two Franklin police officers for violating his First Amendment rights when they threatened to arrest him if he did not stop recording their conversation. The officers based their threat on Pennsylvania’s wiretap law that forbids recording conversations unless everyone agrees to it.-db From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 21, 2011, by Brian Bowling. Full story

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School bus riders sue policeman for arresting them for making faces

donal brown October 24, 2011

Two North Carolina men are suing a town and a member of its police force for arresting them for making faces at him while he drove behind the bus. The men were both minors attending high school when the incident occurred. The lawsuit contends that the students were within their constitutional rights in making non-threatening faces and gestures at the  police officer. -db From the Courthouse News Service, October 24, 2011, by Ryan Abbott. Full

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Former Southern California bank vice president claims request for public officials’ salaries led to his firing

donal brown October 24, 2011

A Riverside man claims the bank that employed him fired him for taking an interest in local politics on his own time by attending a public meeting of the City Council to ask about pay of public officials. The former bank vice president said in the meeting he had not made any accusations but said that the City Council and city manager could increase public confidence by disclosing their compensation including benefits and other perks.

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Federal judge dismisses suit to keep secret the donors to proposition to ban same-sex marriage

donal brown October 24, 2011

A federal district judge upheld a state law allowing the release of names of those donating $100 or more to political campaigns. The supporters of Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage in California wanted to withdraw the information claiming that the donors were at risk. Prop. 8 supporters said they had been harassed, vandalized, and received  hate mail and death threats. -db From the San Francisco Chronicle, October 22, 2011, by Bob Egelko. Full story

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