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Cases Press Release

Kern County Superior Court Rescinds Public Access Ban

[…] to observe public proceedings in all courthouses, subject to public health physical distancing requirements and other health and safety guidelines and standards." A previous version of the Standing Order issued on March 23 was unconstitutional and was used repeatedly to turn away members of the public who were given no remote alternative to in-person […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
July 15, 2020
Latest News

Press Release

CFAC awards

[…] legal counsel and legislative advocate for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, is being honored with a Beacon Award. Ewert is in his second decade of protecting reporters, standing up to censorship, and elevating the rights of student journalists and their advisers. The awards will be presented at CFAC's annual Free Speech and Open Government […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Press Freedom
June 3, 2009
Latest News

Are Myths Killing the Newspaper Business?

[…] millions of Americans who were paying too much for houses during the same period. The newspapers, by the way, just like the houses, are almost all still standing, which leads me to the next lecture: The Myth of Shuttered Newspapers. A powerful theme of much of the journalistic narrative is that newspapers are closing […]

February 24, 2010
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Special audience privilege and the Brown Act

Does Brown Act specify that any board member and any school administration staff enjoy "special audience" privilege to join any board appointed committee’s discussion at anytime? If so, could you refer me to the specific section(s) regarding this? Does it mean that a board appointed committee chair must allow a board member (even she/he […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Does newspaper candidate forum constitute a quorum?

[…] discuss among themselves at all specific business within their agency's jurisdiction); (6) Attendance of a majority of the members at an open and noticed meeting of a standing committee of that body (provided they are only their to observe). To be certain the forum is in compliance with the Brown Act, then, it appears […]

October 6, 2009
Asked and Answered

Bagley-Keene Act Brown Act CPRA

Can finalists for city jobs be kept secret?

Is their any state law allowing the city to keep the names of an advisory committee recommending finalists for a governmental job secret? Our city manager came up with a secret panel to help select finalists for police chief and then refused to reveal their names until their work was done.

March 18, 2010
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Are Special Districts covered by Brown Act, CPRA?

My review of the Government Code shows that there used to be a specific Chapter, containing sections 56450 to 56466, that specifically addressed special districts. However, these particular sections were repealed and replaced with the Reorganization Act of 2000, which begins with section 56825 of the Government Code. It looks like there are provisions […]

January 2, 2011
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Costs soar for City Council meeting DVDs

[…] That is, the agency is permitted to charge for staff time spent in performing the copying, but not the searching for or retrieval of the records. In addition, the agency is permitted to pass on the actual cost of the blank DVD. (It is not uncommon and not improper for agencies to require that […]

September 5, 2011
Asked and Answered

First Amendment

Petitioning in front of stores

[…] prohibiting signature-gathering in front of a particular store, such as the stores you mentioned, as long as reasonable alternative sites in the mall are made available. In addition, the right to petition and gather signatures in large shopping malls may not apply to stand-alone stores (i.e., stores not part of a mall). It is […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Documents from Closed Session Real Property Negotiations

[…] legislative body, the Brown Act requires that the legislative body make such materials available either immediately after the closed session ends -- if you either submitted a standing request for all documentation as part of the standing request for notice of meetings or have submitted a request within 24 hours of the posting of […]

June 14, 2009