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New 1st amendment case poses existential threat to public employee unions

[…] unions comes from . . . the First Amendment. In a scarcely-noticed lawsuit filed Monday in federal district court in Los Angeles, a conservative nonprofit, the Center for Individual Rights, claims that California’s system for collecting union dues from government employees abridges free speech safeguards by compelling employees to subsidize union political advocacy and […]
- Free Expression
May 2, 2013
Cases

Court Access

First Amendment Coalition and Knock LA motion to unseal search warrant

[…] Unsealing of Warrant to Search Photojournalist and Black Lives Matters Protestors' Cell Phones (5/23/2023) Media Coalition Asks Court to Unseal Search Warrant Targeting Protesters Kept Under Seal for Two Years (9/19/2022) Blog: Unsealed: Newly released warrant reveals flimsy basis for L.A. sheriff targeting press, protesters (6/7/2023) Legal Documents: Court Order Granting Motion (11/10/2022) Petition […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
August 10, 2022
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Lies, bigoted rants and snuff videos: Why defense of free speech often entails defense of seriously unsavory characters.

[…] politician and serial liar (no redundancy intended) who claimed to have served in the Marines (a lie) and to have been awarded the nation's highest military honor for heroism in combat (another lie). He has been prosecuted under the federal "Stolen Valor Act" for the speech-crime of claiming falsely to have received the Congressional […]
- Free Expression
- Press Freedom
February 7, 2012
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Judge orders release of SF Ethics Comm’n docs, despite claim of attorney privilege

[…] that the privilege applied because the documents consisted of communications between his and the city attorney's offices. Plaintiff Allen Grossman, a San Francisco resident and long-time activist for open government, noted that Sunshine Ordinance Sec. 67.24(b)(1)(iii) establishes disclosability of city attorney's advice regarding city and state open-meetings and public-records laws and ethics codes. Though […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
November 1, 2013
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Judge Kozinski leads effort to curtail CA’s anti-SLAPP statute

California's anti-SLAPP law, which provides an effective shield to media organizations sued for libel, invasion of privacy and the like, could soon be a lot less effective if Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, ordinarily a strong advocate for First Amendment protections, has his way. In a concurring opinion to a recent decision, Judge […]
- Press Freedom
April 30, 2013
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It starts again: A Washington, DC judge has ordered 5 journalists to name their confidential sources for stories about the anthrax letters of 2001

By Peter Scheer Just when you thought it was safe again for journalists to talk to confidential sources inside government, a federal judge in Washington, DC has ordered five prominent reporters---Allan Lengel of the Washington Post; Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman, both of Newsweek; Toni Locy, formerly of USA Today; and James Stewart of […]
- Press Freedom
June 3, 2009
Latest News

IRS censorship of nonprofits must give way to the First Amendment

[…] am supposed to keep such thoughts to myself. The freedom to engage in public debate during the run-up to an election---criticizing one candidate, supporting an opponent---is taken for granted in America and rightly considered a birthright of citizenship. But this freedom does not exist for organizations, like FAC, that are exempt from tax under […]

July 28, 2016
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In Separate Moves, State and Federal Courts in California OK Policy Changes Allowing Greater Public Access

BY PETER SCHEER --- The courts in California are often criticized for being out of step with the rest of the country. A willingness among judges to deviate from national orthodoxy is not necessarily a bad thing, however. Just this week the administrative arm of the California Supreme Court adopted a rule providing public […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
December 18, 2009
Latest News

Advocacy Press Release

Groups Urge Mendocino County to Repeal Unlawful Public Records Fee Ordinance

Letter urges county officials to stop unlawful practice of charging high fees to respond to California Public Records Act requests FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 27, 2023 Contact: [email protected] The First Amendment Coalition and ACLU of Northern California today called on Mendocino County to repeal an unlawful ordinance that imposes high fees on public records […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
April 27, 2023
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Government officials should listen to voters instead of lawyers selling strategies for blocking access to information

[…] into government's DNA. But some efforts to withhold information are more dangerous to democracy than others. The most dangerous are government lying (about the existence of documents, for example), particularly in circumstances where officials lie with impunity. Almost as dangerous, but less obviously so, are situations in which government agencies restructure the way they […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
March 24, 2014