The public has a right of access to search warrant materials and should be able to challenge indefinite, wholesale secrecy.
The legal fellow works directly with journalists and others to help them access public records and government meetings, while also contributing to a range of First Amendment and open-government litigation.
Q: I’m trying to find out how to access a record from the parole office to determine the date a certain parolee absconded. Can you help? Is there a sample letter for making a request? A: While I did not locate any law directly addressing the California Public Records Act and specific details within parole records (such as date of absconsion), the presumption is that records held by government agencies are subject to disclosure under
The First Amendment Coalition’s legal team is available to answer questions about your rights under the First Amendment and your right to access public information on Election Day and every day. FAC’s staff attorneys will be providing rapid responses to journalists on deadline and can make referrals to experts and qualified legal counsel as the need arises. FAC’s Legal Hotline is for anyone with questions about: Protesters’ rights to assemble and record the police Journalists’ newsgathering rights Access to public records and meetings Reporters on deadline
Q: I was told by our county authorities that the county cannot release specific ages, gender, co-morbidities or housing situation (group homes vs. apartments vs. single-family homes) for those individuals whose cause of death was attributed to COVID-19 on the grounds that releasing that data would violate health information privacy rules under HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). I do not want a list of information for each individual. I want to aggregate data