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Water district, in settlement with FAC, agrees to disclose water usage by corporations

A Southern California water district, as part of a settlement of a lawsuit brought by the First Amendment Coalition, has agreed to tell the public how much water each of its corporate customers is pumping from underground aquifers. The Desert Water Agency in Palm Springs had published this information in past years, but changed […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
October 30, 2014
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Advocacy Press Release

Victory for Transparency: CA Supreme Court Rejects Police Union Effort to Gut Landmark Police Transparency Law

In a significant victory for government transparency and accountability, the California Supreme Court today denied a police union’s last-minute effort to undermine the effectiveness of a new, landmark police transparency law, rejecting the union’s effort to make the law (SB 1421) apply only to records created after January 1, 2019. The First Amendment Coalition […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
January 2, 2019
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Blog

Vallejo’s bankruptcy highlights need for transparency in city-union contracts

[…] of causes--falling sales tax revenue, the home mortgage crisis leading to collapsing home prices and lower real estate taxes--there needs to be added one more: Too much government secrecy. Vallejo is broke, and other cities and counties may be close behind, because their personnel costs--salary and benefits for current employees and retirees--are higher than […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 3, 2009
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Blog

To take the sleaze out of judicial elections, ethics rules should bar lawyers who contribute money to judges from practicing before those judges

[…] a necessary byproduct of an elected judiciary. Most probably would prefer to replace elective judgeships with appointed judgeships, as in the federal system. Many judges would support government financing of judicial elections as a way to avoid conflicts-of-interest. Those reforms, although desirable, are not in the cards in most states. Nonetheless, many state supreme […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 3, 2009
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Blog

The Tyranny of the Minority: A Post-Charlottesville Theory of the First Amendment

[…] the minority," in which a (vanishingly small) minority viewpoint has not only the protections of the First Amendment behind it, but the full force of the American government at its service So when free-speech advocates such as myself opine that white supremacist Richard Spencer and his supporters are entitled to First Amendment protection against […]
- Free Expression
February 6, 2018
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Cases Press Release

Temecula Residents Sue School Board and its President for First Amendment and Brown Act Violations

[…] meeting." "Californians have the right to attend public meetings concerning policies that impact their families, especially their child’s education," said Jonathan Markovitz, Free Expression and Access to Government staff attorney at the ACLU SoCal. "TVUSD Board President Komrosky has consistently violated that right by inappropriately expelling people from school board meetings." The lawsuit asks […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
December 22, 2023
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Blog Cases

Supreme Court to hold oral argument in FAC case this Wednesday at Boalt Hall. Be there!

[…] UC Berkeley School of Law, Room 215, Boalt Hall. FAC Board member James Chadwick is arguing for FAC. FAC’s co-plaintiff, UCLA Professor Richard Sander, will be represented by LA attorney Jean-Paul Jassy (who recently wrote an amicus brief for FAC in a defamation case in the US Supreme Court). Prof. Sander sued the Bar […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
October 7, 2013
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Cases Press Release

Settlement Reached in Free Speech Case at Temecula Valley Unified

[…] he disagrees with the viewpoint of their speech. Opposing opinions or stances on topics are not inherently disruptive. "It is important that our rights to petition the government and air grievances shall not be infringed by a school board president on a power trip," said plaintiff Julie Geary. "My hope is that the Temecula […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
April 16, 2024
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Advocacy Blog

San José releases trove of mayor’s emails in FAC public records case

[…] in the San José Spotlight Giwargis: Why we sued to get emails"The usage of private email to conduct public business makes it difficult for reporters—and residents—to know what documents exist and to hold their government officials accountable for releasing those records," saysRamona Giwargis, San José Spotlight co-founder and CEO. Read the Q&A in California Local
- Government Transparency and Accountability
October 17, 2022
Latest News

Prop 8’s victory, reinstating ban on same sex marriage, is big loss for California Supreme Court, but damage not irreparable

[…] ballot initiative, repeals it), the Court is to be applauded for attempting to resolve a pressing social question--whether to allow gays to marry--that the other branches of government had proved incapable of addressing. In this area and others, it falls to the George Court to fill a widening governance gap created by a Legislature […]

June 3, 2009