California vs. the First Amendment: FAC & Cal Press Panel Discussion, Dec. 5, 2019

David Snyder, executive director of FAC; Jim Ewert, general counsel of the California News Publishers Association; Victoria Baranetsky, general counsel of the Center for Investigative Reporting; Audrey Cooper, editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Chronicle; Noah Griffin, columnist. READ MORE


On December 5, 2019, FAC and the Cal Press Foundation co-hosted a panel discussion on California vs. The First Amendment. In 2019 Golden State governments were behind an unrelenting series of affronts to the First Amendment in 2019. Police went after a journalist’s sources with a sledgehammer. The state attorney general threatened to prosecute reporters and fought in court to weaken the state’s new police accountability law. And a series of decisions at the local level ran afoul of free speech and open-government principles. What’s the matter with California? And what can proponents of free speech and a free press do about it? Read more about the discussion.

Panelists: These reporters and attorneys were on the front lines of battles over secrecy, accountability and censorship:
Victoria Baranetsky, general counsel of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Audrey Cooper, editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Chronicle
Jim Ewert, general counsel of the California News Publishers Association
Noah Griffin, columnist
Moderator: David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition

Presented by FAC at the California Press Foundation’s Annual Winter Meeting.