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A&A: Access to City Manager’s compensation denied

FAC July 28, 2011

Q: I am a  director for the Public Utility District trying to access the General Manager’s compensation information.  Another director asked for W-2s with confidential information blacked out. And was told via email that they do not have to provide them. What information am I entitled to and how to I ask for it? The GM told us that due to client confidentiality the board has to vote to review the billing statements. He only

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A&A:High school impeaches student president over Facebook rant

FAC July 28, 2011

Q: My daughter was featured on the top most headline of the local newspaper this last Saturday. She has been stripped of her ELECTED position as President of her High School because of an off-hand comment she made on a chat on Facebook. We are looking to anyone that can help us and a lawyer friend in the are suggested contacting you. A: The Supreme Court “has held that the First Amendment guarantees only limited

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Pittsburgh Steeler sues for right to make controversial statements on Twitter

donal brown July 27, 2011

A Pittsburgh Steeler football player Rashard Mendenhall  filed a $1 million freedom of speech lawsuit against Hanes underwear which dropped his endorsement contract in reaction to his controversial comments on Twitter. One of the Tweets in dispute was his objection to people celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden. “What kind of person celebrates death? It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side,” tweeted

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Debt ceiling talks conducted behind closed doors

donal brown July 27, 2011

Open government is taking a hit during the Congressional scrimmage over laws to curtail the federal deficit, writes Jonathan Allen in Politico. The President  and House and Senate leadership are conducting negotiations behind closed doors with few details leaked to the public or the Congress. -db From a commentary in Politico, July 26, 2011, by Jonathan Allen. Full story

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New Jersey: ACLU forces issue in obtaining record of back room king-making

donal brown July 27, 2011

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie invoked the executive privilege exception in denying the requests of Gawker reporter John Cook to correspondence, calendar entries and phone logs on a dinner with Fox News President Roger Ailes who encouraged Christie to run for president. Chistie eventually submitted a calendar entry about the dinner after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act. -db From a commentary for the American Civil

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