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FAC’s Duffy Carolan honored by journalists’ group

Peter Scheer February 15, 2011

First Amendment lawyer Duffy Carolan–who is also a long-time Board member of the First Amendment Coalition–will receive a special honor from the Society of Professional Journalists (NorCal Chapter) at an award ceremony on March 16. Carolan, a lawyer in the San Francisco office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, is receiving the organization’s “Legal Counsel” award in recognition of 20 years of successfully defending media clients, individual journalists and others in free speech, libel, and freedom

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Congressional Research Service voices concerns about federal open government initiative

donal brown February 14, 2011

The Congressional Research Service has not been sold on the Obama administration’s Open Government Initiative. A recently updated report criticized the effort for offering more data to the public but not granting transparency about how the government functions. The report also noted that while increased public participation could help produce positive outcomes, it could also reduce the speed of government action and cause security and privacy concerns. -db From Secrecy News, February 14, 2011 by

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Social media the new revolutionary pamphlet

donal brown February 14, 2011

While conceding that the social media did not cause the Egyptian revolution, Sam Gustin in Wired writes that the social media made significant contributions to the revolution’s success, a development that offers hope to repressed peoples of the Middle East. Gustin quotes Sascha Meinrath of the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative: “In the same way that pamphlets didn’t cause the American Revolution, social media didn’t cause the Egyptian revolution. Social media have become the

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Whistleblowing an endangered species: Workplace free speech takes another hit

donal brown February 14, 2011

The 2nd Circuit federal appeals court ruled against a custodian who claimed he was fired for warning his superiors that a a mass that had fallen onto the gym floor might be asbestos and constitute a public safety concern. The court said the speech fell under his duties as custodian and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Garcetti v. Ceballos and therefore not protected under the First Amendment. From the First Amendment Center, February 14, 2011,

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California appeals court upholds order requiring juror to release his online postings

donal brown February 14, 2011

After a jury foreman wrote on Facebook during the trial of alleged gang members that the proceedings were boring, defense attorneys issued subpoenas to Facebook and the foreman for the postings. The judge ordered the foreman to authorize Facebook to release the postings. That order was upheld by the appeals court without comment. -db From The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, February 11, 2011, by Rachel Costello with additional reporting by Lyndsey Wajert.

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