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A&A: Union attorney didn’t defend my free speech rights

FAC August 2, 2011

Q: I am awaiting the results of an arbitration hearing. I am not very optimistic about the results of the hearing. The results are to come in about 45 days. What happened is this, I put my application in for a move up to the varsity coaching job while serving as the junior varsity coach.  I soon discovered that the former coach who had retired from teaching was going to continue as varsity coach. I

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EFF director argues for use of online pseudonyms

donal brown August 1, 2011

With advent of the Google+ policy requiring users to identify by “the name your friend, family or do-workers usually call you,” Jillian York, a director for the Electronic Freedom Foundation argues that the benefits of pseudonyms outweigh the negatives, particularly for gays and other people subject to violence or harassment such as victims of domestic violence and particularly those opposing oppressive political regimes. York writes, “Those in favor of the use of ‘real names’ on

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Federal court experiment premiers with video of Tennessee hearing

donal brown August 1, 2011

The federal courts’ test of  cameras in the courtroom began July 21 in a hearing for a preliminary injunction in Tennessee. The test program,  approved by the U.S. Judicial Conference last year,  allows court-operated cameras to film civil proceedings in 14 federal trial courts. The July 21 proceedings were posted online after the hearing. Writing for the Citizens Media Law Project, Eric P. Robinson noted that this is not the first experiment with cameras in

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Watergate: Federal judge orders unsealing of Nixon’s grand jury testimony

donal brown August 1, 2011

Subject to review by the federal agency in charge of the records, a federal court in Washington, D.C. ordered unsealed the testimony of President Richard Nixon to the 1975 grand jury on the Watergate investigation. The judge said, “To be sure, Watergate’s significance in American history cannot be overstated. Nearly forty years later, Watergate continues to capture both scholarly and public interest. The disclosure of President Nixon’s grand jury testimony would likely enhance the existing

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A&A: In Texas, town hall meeting nixed videotaping

FAC August 1, 2011

Q: Is there an equivalent of a Brown Act for Texas? I was at a Congressional town hall meeting, and a member of the Congresswoman’s staff told me I was not allowed to video record the meeting. Is that legal? A: Texas has an Open Meetings Act, which provides, “Every regular, special, or called meeting of a governmental body shall be open to the public, except as provided by this chapter.” Tex. Gov’t Code §

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