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California Supreme Court to hear case challenging restrictions on releasing computer data

donal brown September 19, 2011

Why is okay to withhold information transferred to electronic format when the same information in document form is available under the California Public Records Act( (CPRA)? That is the question the California Supreme Court will consider in reviewing a Court of Appeal decision that Orange County could charge the Sierra Club $300,000 for the Orange County GIS basemap of public property information, effectively blocking public access. The lower court had ruled that transferring the property

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Full federal appeals court rules ban on day laborers unconstitutional

donal brown September 19, 2011

The full panel of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Redondo Beach ordinance aimed at clearing the streets of day laborers looking for work was too restrictive of free speech. The court wrote, “[The ordiance] is not narrowly tailored because [it] restricts significantly more speech than is necessary, and because the city could have employed various less restrictive alternatives to achieve its goals.” A dissenting judge said the law restrict speech

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California: Sonoma County pension board agrees to release pension data

donal brown September 19, 2011

After a state appellate court ruled that the Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association could not refuse the Santa Rosa Press Democrat’s requests under California Public Records Act for pension figures for county government retirees, the pension fund board acceded to the requests. In withholding the information, the pension fund board was complying with a 1937 law which stated that the records were confidential and not for release to the public. -db From the Santa Rosa

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Federal judge says law unconstitutional that prohibits doctors from discussing gun safety with patients

donal brown September 15, 2011

The National Rifle Association lost a battle for a change as a federal district judge ruled that Florida’s new law restricting doctors from even asking patients if they have guns in their homes was an abrdgement of the doctors’ First Amendment rights. The judge wrote, “A practitioner who counsels a patient on firearm safety, even when entirely irrelevant to medical care or safety, does not affect or interfere with the patient’s right to continue to

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LA Times sues for county child death records

donal brown September 15, 2011

Frustrated by delays  and heavy redactions, the Los Angeles Times is suing for the release of records concerning the deaths of children under the supervision of the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services. -db From the Los Angeles Times, September 15, 2011, by Garrett Therolf. Full story

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