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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
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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
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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
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Google’s Antitrust Wrist Slap Is Right Result for Wrong Reason. Right Reason: Google Search Results are Protected Speech

[…] relative to other search results, and the presentation generally of website pages responsive to a search -- these choices constitute editorial functions, subject to the strongest safeguards for free speech. The New York Times (or The Huffington Post, Wired.com or other reputable news organization of your choice) gets to decide -- free from government […]

January 7, 2013
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Gmail Nation: The Privatization of Public Records and Public Access

[…] otherwise public records by simply using Gmail. And yet the law has been surprisingly slow to recognize this principle. Private email accounts have been in widespread use for almost two decades now, and we know that for just as long government officials have been using such accounts to transact public business. If the timing […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
April 25, 2017
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Blog Cases

Federal Judge rules in FAC case: US can keep secret a legal memo on drone strikes targeting US citizen

[…] the First Amendment Coalition, a federal judge has ruled that the Obama administration does not have to disclose a Justice Department legal memo explaining the legal rationale for drone strikes and, in particular, drone strikes abroad against suspected terrorists who are also US citizens. FAC's suit, based on federal FOIA, was filed shortly after […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
April 15, 2014
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Blog Cases

Federal Judge declines US request to freeze FAC’s FOIA suit for targeted killing memo

The US Justice Department has failed in its effort to derail the First Amendment Coalition's FOIA suit for access to a government legal memo on the lethal targeting of US citizens engaged in terrorism against US interests. US District Judge Claudia Wilken on Tuesday denied the Justice Department's request to stay proceedings in the […]

July 24, 2012
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Cases Press Release

FAC Suit Against San Diego DA Forces Disclosure of Employee Misconduct Records

[…] important principle under the California Public Records Act — that public agencies must produce actual records in their files. The district attorney insisted that it was sufficient for the agency to release tailored summaries of records, while withholding the records themselves. "From inception, this lawsuit was as much about a legal principle as the […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
October 21, 2019