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Showing 271 - 280 of 687 results

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    Access to RFO Bids

    […] the agencies of their obligation to provide you with the records, or to cite the authority that allows them to withhold it.  Only then will you be in a better position to determine whether the records have been improperly withheld.  A sample PRA request letter is found on CFAC's website at the following link: https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/cpra-primer/sample-cpra-request-letter/.

    June 14, 2009

  • Posts

    First Amendment Press Rights

    Purported Shasta County Media Policy Threatens Press Freedom, FAC Writes

    FAC sent this letter to the Shasta County Board of Supervisors opposing its purported "media policies and procedures" described in a press release issued on July 29. At best, these policies create confusion, and at worst, they run counter to the Ralph M. Brown Act and First Amendment and threaten the ability of journalists […]

    July 30, 2024

  • Latest News

    Blog

    In their handling of controversy surrounding Chemerinsky and Summers, UC’s leaders showed themselves unable or unwilling to defend academic freedom

    […] popular at Harvard among students and alumni.) That resentment may have more to do with Summers’ unwillingness to defer to the Harvard faculty, which saw him—no doubt correctly-- as a threat to their considerable power and privileges. Viewed in that light, the UC protest is less about gender and race, and more about a […]

    June 3, 2009

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA Police Records

    Is footage taken by an officer wearing a body-camera a public document?

    […] or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics."  Gov’t Code § 6252(e) (emphasis added). You can find a sample PRA request letter on the FAC’s website, available at https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/cpra-primer-2023-update/sample-cpra-request-letter/. In the case that the footage was taken on a personal cellphone or camera, it will be more difficult […]

    June 12, 2014

  • Latest News

    Blog Cases

    The ongoing push for police transparency 

    […] the new laws.David Loy, FAC Legal Director The First Amendment Coalition is dedicated to enforcing the transparency and accountability promised by these laws. Recently, we sent two letters to law enforcement agencies demanding compliance with their duties of public disclosure. Both letters were sent to enforce public record requests made by Tasha Williamson, president […]

    May 18, 2022

  • Asked and Answered

    Brown Act CPRA

    Planning Commissions, Confidential Complaints, and the CPRA

    […] be to request records pertaining to any complaints made by this particular Planning Commissioner, during the period for which she has been on the Commission.  A sample letter requesting records can be found on CFAC's website, https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/cpra-primer/sample-cpra-request-letter/.  Within 10 days of receipt of your request, sec. 6253(c) requires the agency to "determine whether the […]

    June 14, 2009

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    How Do I Access Decades-Old 911 Audios?

    […] CPRA does not only mean words on a page, but includes "every other means of recording upon any tangible thing any form of communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols, or combinations thereof, and any record thereby created, regardless of the manner in which the record has been stored." Gov’t Code […]

    September 24, 2021

  • Asked and Answered

    FOIA

    Non-response to FOIA request

    […] the disclosure of all or some of the records sought.The appeal to the head of the agency is a simple matter.An appeal is filed by sending a letter to the head of the agency and must identify the FOIA request that is being appealed.5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A)(ii).Please look at each agency's FOIA appeals procedures […]

    June 14, 2009

  • Posts

    Gov Brown, Veto SB 1300. Ostensibly about oil refineries, SB 1300 threatens public access rights.

    […] access to a competitor's information. Ordinary citizens certainly won't be able take this risk. News media certainly won't take this risk. The PRA will simply be a dead letter so far as oil company records on refineries are concerned. Some may say these changes to existing law, while terrible, are not such a big deal […]

    September 9, 2014

  • Posts

    Press Rights

    San Bernardino County Sheriff Finally Releases Videos of Shootout After FAC Demanded Full Disclosure

    […] that Savannah may have participated in shooting at the deputies. For almost 18 months, the sheriff’s department refused to release the recordings. Only after FAC sent a letter demanding release in December 2023 did the department finally disclose them on March 29, 2024. As reported in this story by Scott and Sam Levin, the […]

    April 4, 2024