Write a review of FAC to help us keep our Top Rated Nonprofit status!

Search Results

Showing 491 - 500 of 1525 results

Asked and Answered

CPRA

Trying To Access Autopsy Records Of Mass Shooting Victims

[…] having difficulty obtaining the autopsy records from the reported mass shooting in Thousand Oaks on November 7-8, 2018. My understanding is Autopsy Records are public records in the State of California. How do I force the Medical Examiner's hand? I've been asking about these since November. They don't even cite an exemption from the PRA.

April 1, 2020
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Are confidential marriage certificate applications accessible under the CPRA?

I am trying to get information on a marriage that that occurred in October of last year. The marriage is a confidential marriage and I cannot obtain a copy because I am not one of the two married parties. My question is: Is the marriage certificate application public?

July 24, 2013
Asked and Answered

Councilman is rude to speakers making public comments. What is our legal recourse?

Our small town elected a person to the city council who has been so bullying and rude to residents during public comments, in official emails to residents and in phone calls and encounters on the streets that the council was forced to adopt a code of conduct. Under COVID-19, it would be especially difficult […]
- Public Meetings
September 18, 2020
Asked and Answered

CPRA

What rules apply to searching DMV database?

I’m divorcing a law enforcement officer, who has taken abuse of power to a whole new level and no one seems to care. What are the laws regarding license plate queries? My Ex, or his buddies, "ran" all of my friends and family through CLETS in order to gather information. When I contacted the […]

December 7, 2010
Latest News

Blog Cases

Unsealed: Newly released warrant reveals flimsy basis for L.A. sheriff targeting press, protesters

[…] to ensure press rights were protected. In addition to California’s strong shield law protections, the U.S. Privacy Protection Act limits when the government can pilfer through protected newsgathering materials. (Unzueta brought a civil rights lawsuit over the ordeal and received a $90,000 settlement.) The investigator’s statement of probable cause to obtain the warrant allowing […]
- Press Freedom
June 7, 2023
Latest News

Facebook, under attack for choosing “trending” stories, should embrace the 1st Amendment

[…] has nothing to do with human judgment or choice. This has long been Facebook’s public posture, and it was its initial knee-jerk response this week to a news story, appearing in Gizmodo, that was sourced to anonymous, and apparently disaffected, contractors hired by Facebook to monitor the selection of news items identified on Facebook […]

May 11, 2016
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Is a school caretakers’s security camera subject to CPRA?

In this case, the caretaker has a contract with a local school district to provide security services on the school premises. The security cameras are attached to the caretakers mobile home, which is on school property. Are the camera's subject to CPRA?

September 10, 2016
Asked and Answered

Newsgathering

Can I use audio clips of solicitors refusing to be interviewed?

[…] are soliciting money pledges for various causes on the local university campus, outdoors, in public. I approached them with a recorder, identified myself as a radio reporter and started asking them questions. Their response was, "I don't want to answer any questions!" Is it legal to include that audio clip in my story, which would air on the radio? Or […]

May 12, 2014
Asked and Answered

First Amendment Police Records

What is legality of reporting on contents of leaked documents?

[…] I do not intend to post the actual documents or any personal information (phone numbers, etc) but there are conversations in the documents that I believe are newsworthy and I would like to report on those conversations. Do I have potential legal liability if I publish a story based on and quoting from the […]

November 8, 2016
Latest News

Bush Signs FOIA Rewrite

[…] signed bipartisan legislation containing the most important amendments to the FOIA in over a decade. The changes expand the definition of who is a "representative of the news media." This will benefit bloggers and non-traditional journalists by making them eligible for discounted processing and duplication fees that are available to the news media. Other […]

June 2, 2009