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Federal appeals court rules for journalist in gaining early decision on gag order

donal brown August 16, 2011

A federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled a Texas journalist could expedite his appeal of a gag order in a trial of a citizen of Saudi Arabia who allegedly attempted to use of weapon of mass destruction in the U.S. The court refused to suspend the gag order but ordered that a decision in the appeal be made on September 9. -db From The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, August 12, 2011,

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California: Rancho Cucamonga considers permits for demonstrations

donal brown August 16, 2011

Rancho Cucamonga is passing an ordinance this week that would require groups to inform the city in advance of its intentions to conduct a rally or protest. The ordinance would apply to gatherings of 75 or more people. An event on a major street would require a six day notice and for other areas two to four days. A sheriff’s deputy said they needed more notice so they could schedule enough officers to provide security

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A&A: Are the applications for state professional licenses public?

FAC August 16, 2011

Q: I am a researcher for a state government agency.  For a current project, I hoped to access the applications for state professional licenses submitted by engineers. I say the records are public. Our lawyer said no.  Help! A: Under the Public Records Act, public records — which include “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical

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Google’s purchase of Motorola shows dangers of out-of-control patent litigation

Peter Scheer August 16, 2011

BY PETER SCHEER—Google’s $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola is a sign of serious problems for the US economy. Motorola’s strategic appeal to Google is its portfolio of thousands of patents covering mobile phone technologies. But the acquisition of these patents creates no real value for Google. They are in the nature of a massive  premium payment for insurance against suits by competitors and others for alleged patent infringement. Google is at risk for such suits

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Federal court rules transit district violated First Amendment in rejecting ad

donal brown August 15, 2011

A federal appeals court ruled that a Pennsylvania transit agency, the Allegheny County Port Authority, violated the free speech rights of a nonprofit group who had sought to run a bus ad to inform ex-cons of their voting rights. The agency rejected the ad on the grounds that it did not accept noncommercial ads, but in fact they had accepted ads from other nonprofit groups. A lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union said, “The

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