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

By Peter Scheer The city of Vallejo has taken the extraordinary step of filing for federal bankruptcy protection. While the financial distress of this San Francisco suburb (population 117,000) is especially acute, its fiscal problems are fundamentally the same as those facing many California cities and counties--and, indeed, the state itself. To the familiar […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 3, 2009
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Cases Press Release

UCLA Turns Over Video of Contentious Event with Treasury Secretary After Public Records Requests Flood in

[…] influenced by a third party. "The records were created by UCLA and are in possession of UCLA, a state body subject to CPRA," FAC’s request stated. "No exemption provides a third party to "revoke consent" or control access to such records." Just over a week later, on the evening of Friday, March 9, UCLA […]
- Free Expression
- Government Transparency and Accountability
March 12, 2018
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Transparency coming to police one city at a time

BY PETER SCHEER---Kudos to San Diego DA Bonnie Dumanis for taking a first step to increase public scrutiny of police. Earlier this month, Dumanis, with the backing of the city police chief and county sheriff, released police videos (from body and vehicle cameras) of ten officer-involved shootings since 2014. She also announced a new […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 24, 2016
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Cases Press Release

Statement on Judge’s Ruling in Public Access Case Against Kern County Superior Court

[…] California asked a federal judge to order officials in Kern County to immediately enforce the public’s First Amendment right of access to hearings and trials. The request for a temporary restraining order came as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit the groups filed after documenting more than a dozen instances of members of […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
July 2, 2020
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Special Commentary | You Have the Right to Record Law Enforcement Officers — Including at the Border

[…] Mr. Ramirez, forcibly took his cell phone, and deleted his photographs — effectively interfering with Mr. Ramirez’s constitutional right to record. The right to record is critical for holding law enforcement, especially CBP officials, accountable for abuses at the border. Recording and documenting interactions with federal law enforcement officers are especially critical tools for […]
- Free Expression
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 9, 2022
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Cases Press Release

FAC Suit Against CalPERS Seeks Records on Controversial E Palo Alto Real Estate Investment

FAC---Monday July 19---The First Amendment Coalition (FAC) today announced that it has sued CalPERS, the retirement system for California government workers, over access to records about the agency’s ill-fated investment in an East Palo Alto residential real estate development that has gone bust--at a loss to CalPERS of all of its $100 million stake […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
July 20, 2010
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Police are wrong: Cop-cam videos must be released as public records

[…] they do not have "carte blanche" or "unlimited" power to label any document as part of an investigatory file. If police were permitted to do that, the " exemption would swallow the rule." Body camera and dashboard tapes in particular shouldn’t be labeled confidential investigatory material. The footage represents objective, neutral documentation of events, and in […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
October 6, 2016
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FAC News Press Release

NEW name, NEW website, Bigger role, Same mission

[…] borders in an era when information published in, say, Eureka, CA is available instantly and everywhere via the internet. The First Amendment Coalition ("FAC" or "the Coalition" for short) for many years has been involved in legal matters, including federal appellate cases, whose effects extend beyond California’s borders. More recently we have worked to […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
September 22, 2009
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Blog Cases

New “drone memo” to be released to FAC . . . and other developments in FAC’s legal cases

[…] memo analyzing the legality of the government’s proposed use of force to kill al-Aulaqi, a US citizen who had joined Al Qaeda and taken on operational functions for Al-Qaeda’s operations in Yemen. Al-Aulaqi was subsequently killed in a 2010 drone attack. The disclosure about the second memo was made in a filing in FAC’s […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
July 11, 2014
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MediaNews, Hearst and Clint Reilly should not be allowed to keep their secret settlement a secret

[…] participants. Recent examples include the Wall Street Journal, whose top editors knew about Rupert Murdoch’s offer to purchase Dow Jones (owner of the Journal and related businesses) for days before the news was made public--not by the Journal, but by CNBC, a competitor. In California, the Hearst Corporation, owner of the San Francisco Chronicle, […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Press Freedom
June 2, 2009