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Defense Department puts heat on employees to report suspicious information flows

donal brown May 24, 2011

A new directive requires Department of Defense personnel to report suspicious activities and behavior. Personnel could be punished for failing to report the specified activities. Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News writes, “The directive lists numerous actions that are subject to mandatory reporting including ‘attempts to obtain classified or sensitive information by an individual not authorized to receive such information’ and ‘requests for DoD information that make an individual suspicious, to include suspicious or questionable requests

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Free speech: High school girls’ risque photos subject of federal suit

donal brown May 24, 2011

Two sophomore girls are suing their Indiana school district in federal court after they were disciplined for posting online photos of themselves posing with phallic lollipops. Both the girls and the district are basing their pleas on the Supreme Court case, Tinker v. Des Moines, the district arguing that the photos appeal to prurient interests and as such were disruptive and run counter to the values of public education. The girls argue that the photos

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California: Winters school district trustees alleged to have violated open meeting law

donal brown May 24, 2011

The Yolo County Grand Jury reported that the Winters Joint Unified School District board of trustees violated California’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, by failing to properly place an important personnel item on the agenda. The report was released a little over a year after the board fired a popular principal at Winters High School. The Grand Jury said that the firing was not properly on the agenda for open roll call and also

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College publications director wins first round in case over speech criticizing employer

donal brown May 23, 2011

Operating under the umbrella of the Supreme Court decision limiting employee speech, a college publications director won the first round in a lawsuit against her college for firing her for saying that the college forced employees to do political work. A federal district  judge reinstated he woman’s suit saying that as a statement on corruption, the speech was a matter of public interest and protected under the First Amendment. -db From a commentary for the

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Federal appeals court reinstates defamation suit holding that broadcast omitted key details

donal brown May 23, 2011

A federal appeals court held that a West Virginia daycare owner could pursue a defamation suit against a television station for omitting the fact that alleged abuse was tied to a single incident of child-to-child contact. A trial court had found that for the station on the grounds that all statements in the broadcast were true, but the appeals court  wrote about the omission of facts, “A reasonable jury could find that this statement [the

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