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Asked and Answered

CPRA

Can I use the PRA to request lawmaker’s emails and calendars?

[…] from disclosure. If you seek records from a member of the state legislature, the a request would be made pursuant to the Legislative Open Records Act ( Government Code §§ 9070 et seq.). The Legislative Open Records Act (LORA) covers "any writing prepared on or after December 2, 1974, which contains information relating to […]

August 26, 2016
Latest News

Cases Press Release

FAC Sues Bakersfield For Open Meetings, Records Violations

[…] asserting the city had not violated the law. The city also failed to produce the documents FAC requested. The FAC-Cal Aware lawsuit followed. "The public can’t hold their government accountable unless they know what their government is doing," Snyder said. "We’re going to make sure they do." +++ Attorney Kelly Aviles of Los Angeles is […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Meetings
December 22, 2017
Latest News

Blog Cases

Judge plugs ‘private email’ loophole in CA public records law

[…] Scheer told the Mercury News that he’s confident the appeal will reaffirm the original ruling: "That will force all California cities and counties to treat emails about government business as public records, regardless of the status or ownership of the email accounts or devices. What matters is the substance of the message — is […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
March 20, 2013
Latest News

2007 CFAC Free Speech & Open Government Assembly

[…] Amendment Coalition is seeking nominations for its annual Beacon and Darkness awards, given in recognition of exceptional efforts, during 2006 and 2007, to advance and defend open- government and freedom of speech (Beacon Awards), and the opposite: exceptional efforts to curtail public access and free expression (Darkness Awards). Deadline for award nominations is September […]

June 3, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act Newsgathering

Community Association claims parks are private; city says they’re public

[…] and then the city. The parks are considered public by city officials, but the association says those parks are private. My question has to do with the Brown Act. If the community association, a public benefit nonprofit corporation, holds board meetings to discuss these public parks, are these meetings considered open meetings and subject […]

July 17, 2013
Latest News

Blog

Gmail Nation: The Privatization of Public Records and Public Access

By DAVID SNYDER—The California Supreme Court ruled last month that records stored on government officials’ personal email accounts are subject to the California Public Records Act. This answer seems obvious: government officials should not be able to conceal otherwise public records by simply using Gmail. And yet the law has been surprisingly slow to […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
April 25, 2017
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

COVID-19 Prohibition On Public Gatherings Prevented Me From Speaking to the Public

[…] Act. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to FAC hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation. No attorney-client relationship has been formed by way of this response.

January 20, 2021
Latest News

Blog

Apple is right: the order requiring it to create code to defeat iPhone security is “coerced speech” forbidden by the 1st Amdt

BY PETER SCHEER---The court battle between the FBI and Apple presents an important first amendment issue: whether the government can force a company to engage in expression—to wit, the writing of computer code—-that the company not only objects to, but views as inimical to its interests and its customers’ interests. Apple claims that this […]
- Free Expression
March 7, 2016
Latest News

Blog

When mayors evade disclosure rules by using personal email accounts for city business, it is democracy that suffers. We’ll know soon if the courts, like the public, have lost patience.

For years government officials in California have known that their emails about official business are subject to disclosure as public records. Although mayors, city managers, supervisors and superintendents may not like this, the applicability of the public records law to email messages is settled. You will not be shocked to learn, however, that many […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
February 6, 2014
Posts

CFAC sponsors bill to prevent agencies from using anti-SLAPP law to deter citizens' open-gov suits

[…] open records and open meetings laws. The bill, SB 786, has been introduced by State Senator Leland Yee. SB 786 is directed to lawsuits in which a government agency, defending itself from a claim of violation of the Public Records Act, the Brown Act or the Bagley-Keene Act, invokes the state anti-SLAPP law in […]
June 2, 2009