Search Results

Showing 431 - 440 of 1167 results

Latest News

Blog Cases

The ongoing push for police transparency

[…] criminal charges against several law enforcement officers. In refusing to disclose any records except complaints filed in court, the District Attorney improperly relied on the "investigatory files" exemption from disclosure. Although that exemption may apply to other records, SB 1421 and SB 16 specifically reject it for the records covered by those laws. We […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
May 18, 2022
Latest News

Blog

The “deliberative process privilege” is dead or, at best, on life support

[…] calendar of business meetings. Their reliance is misplaced, however. The Times Mirror decision is a textbook case of judicial activism run amok. Unable to find an applicable exemption in the state Public Records Act, the Court concocted a new one, ruling that the governor could not be forced to disclose records that would reveal […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 2, 2009
Latest News

Blog

Supreme Court’s much-maligned First Amendment decision will, in fact, expand freedom of speech

[…] economy where, for better or worse, most industries enjoy direct or indirect government subsidies. In the media industry, for example, traditional newspapers are subsidized through sales tax exemptions and restrictions on competition for legal notices; television and radio are subsidized through the federal government's decision to give away scarce spectrum space; the internet is […]
- Free Expression
April 5, 2010
Latest News

Press Release

FAC to Intervene in Lawsuit that Attempts to Prohibit Disclosure of Public Records

Reporter Seeks Records Regarding Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Students by a Public School Teacher FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: [email protected] SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The First Amendment Coalition has filed a motion to intervene in Shelton v. Napa Valley Unified School District, a "reverse CPRA" lawsuit that seeks to prevent the release of public […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
May 9, 2024
Latest News

Blog

Shame on Inglewood. Using copyright as a muzzle, the city files suit to censor a local critic

[…] the PRA would be meaningless, since local governments and agencies could assert copyright over any records they don’t want to disclose, regardless of the availability of PRA exemptions. Copyrights, because they impose restrictions on expression, are in tension with the first amendment’s protection for free speech. We nonetheless have copyrights (in fact, they are […]
- Free Expression
May 29, 2015
Latest News

Cases Press Release

Public Citizen and CFAC seek to overturn court orders shuttering wikileaks.org

[…] by (among others), the Los Angeles Times, Hearst Corporation (publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle), Gannett Co., Inc., the Associated Press, E.W. Scripps Co., the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Citizen Media Law Project. Many of the documents posted on Wikileaks are aimed at exposing unethical behavior in governments and corporations […]
- Free Expression
June 3, 2009
Latest News

Cases Press Release

Police Failed to Tell Judge of Bryan Carmody’s Status as Journalist Before Obtaining Warrant, Unsealed Records Show

Police failed to tell the judge who issued a search warrant for Bryan Carmody’s phone that Carmody is a journalist, records unsealed today show—a key omission that helps explain how the San Francisco Police Department was able to obtain warrants for Carmody’s phone, home and office in clear violation of California and federal law. […]
- Press Freedom
July 23, 2019
Latest News

Advocacy Blog

Pardon Power and Your Right to Know

[…] grants. What we learned from that high-profile pardon was that the process surrounding these decisions is highly secretive. That’s because the court records generated when the governor recommends clemency for those twice convicted of felonies — a specific category of people whose applications are subject to oversight by the California Supreme Court — have been routinely […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
September 18, 2021
Latest News

Blog

One judge’s brilliant (and hilarious) rejoinder to lawyers trying to cut off public access to court documents

[…] displeasure with the practice of over-sealing documents and information in the official record of court cases. Judge Breyer (whose brother is Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer) has presided for several years over a shareholders’ lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard concerning the company’s ill-fated acquisition of a British software company that turned out to be worth billions less […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
August 25, 2015
Latest News

Obama should just say ‘No’ to aides who, worried about FOIA, say he must give up beloved Blackberry

[…] earning him considerable capital with the news media. Moreover, the contrast with Capitol Hill secrecy could be used to put pressure on Congress to repeal its indefensible exemption from the FOIA. Shame can be a powerful incentive for reform. As addictions go, Obama’s Blackberry dependence is a pretty good one. Let’s hope he stays […]

June 3, 2009