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A&A: Can employment negotiations be held in closed session?

FAC August 1, 2011

Q: I submitted your Brown Act template regarding a closed meeting. The city attorney response was that it was ok to meet secretly to discuss other terms and conditions of employment with representatives of  “.. .recognized employment organizations . . .” Government Code Section 3505.  Please clarify. A: The Government Code section you mentioned requires: “[t]he governing body of a public agency, or such boards, commissions, administrative officers or other representatives as may be properly

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Federal court decision lightens load of Garcetti v. Caballos

donal brown July 31, 2011

A former probationary  officer, Jason M. Jackler,  fired for refusing to recant his complaint of an excessive force complaint against a police officer, was vindicated in federal court, bringing some sanity to the Garcetti v. Caballos Supreme Court decision. Garcetti established a rule stripping public employees of their free speech rights if they are speaking in the course of their official duties. In the case of the probationary officer, the appeals court found the employees

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Florida judge in Casey Anthony trial orders names of jurors be kept secret until late October

donal brown July 31, 2011

The judge who presided over the trial of Casey Anthony, the Florida woman acquitted of murdering her two-tear-old daughter, blasted the media while ordering that the names of jurors be kept from the media until Oct. 25. Writing for Reuters, Barbara Liston paraphrased the judge, Belvin Perry, “Perry lamented what he said was the blurring of lines between news and entertainment, saying court proceedings have become just another form of mindless entertainment and a revenue

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China: Microbloggers defy censorship in relaying facts of high-speed train crash

donal brown July 29, 2011

Chinese censors are failing to contain the flood of online messages about the wreck of a high-speed train outside Wenzhou that killed 40 people and injured 191. Messages total 26 million. Citizens began the posts right after the accident and in many instances foiled the manipulations of government officials. In Wenzhou, officials ordered lawyers not to accept cases from families of victims without permission. After this came to light on the internet, they were forced to

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Judge denies journalist information on Kentucky mining diaster

donal brown July 29, 2011

An editor for Mine Safety and Health News failed to obtain a court order for information about a federal investigation into the question of whether mine safety officials covered up a coal slurry spill in Kentucky in 2000. Three hundred gallons of the toxic waste, 25 times the size of the Exxon Vaaldez oil spill, broke from a reservoir and seeped into more than 100 miles of rivers and lands. A federal judge said the

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