Search Results

Showing 921 - 930 of 1167 results

Latest News

Blog

Secrecy surrounding public employees’ pay & benefits makes mockery of democracy

[…] come before them---issues that dwarf all others by orders of magnitude---those same elected officials revert to total secrecy. I am referring to decisions on compensation and benefits for public employees--which, for most cities and counties in California, consume north of 80 percent of all government spending. Regardless of one’s party affiliation or views about […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 24, 2015
Latest News

Blog

SCOTUS is about to bring down hammer on public sector unions. That will be good for democracy, not so good for freedom of speech.

[…] positions with which they may disagree, constitute "coerced speech" in violation of the first amendment. The Court’s prior cases have permitted these arrangements as necessary to pay for collective bargaining activities---which benefit union members and nonmembers alike---subject to the proviso that nonmembers must be able to obtain a refund for overtly political activities, like […]
- Free Expression
January 20, 2016
Latest News

Advocacy Blog

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

The fight for transparency continues Friends, Earlier this year, wefiled a lawsuitto bring more transparency to San José City Hall. The lawsuit seeks to enforce the California Public Records Act after city officials failed to turn over emails, text messages and other documents we believe the public was entitled to see. This month, we […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
October 17, 2022
Latest News

Blog

SacBee calls for more transparency in compensation agreements with public employee unions

[…] local government labor contract negotiations. You can understand the logic and the urgency behind his idea when you consider the situation in Vallejo. That city is filing for bankruptcy. Why? Local officials approved salary and benefits costs for current employees and retirees that are more than the city can afford. Scheer's point is that […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 2, 2009
Latest News

Rating the leading Presidential candidates on First Amendment issues. And the winner is . . .

[…] rights. As a lawyer with an elite legal pedigree whose first professional gig was investigating Richard Nixon's predations against civil liberties during Watergate, she has an appreciation for both the danger of excessive governmental secrecy, and the importance of the press as an institutional counterweight. On the other hand, as a subject of Congressional […]

June 3, 2009
Latest News

Blog

Pultizer Prize-winning reporter describes quest for truth in Las Vegas construction deaths

By Donal Brown Wall Street Journal reporter Alexandra Berzon said that favorable circumstances set the stage for the stories on Las Vegas construction deaths that earned her a 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service when she was with the Las Vegas Sun. It is clear, though, that her success in the project derived centrally […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
November 11, 2009
Latest News

Blog

Public officials’ love of secrecy is no match for the public’s love to watch government decision-making up close. In California, democratic voyeurism prevails.

By Peter Scheer One of California's more remarkable political inventions is the requirement that lawmakers do their lawmaking in the open for all to see. Call it the people’s entitlement to democratic voyeurism: Members of city councils, county supervisors and school boards (among other local legislative bodies) must not only vote in public, they […]

June 2, 2009
Latest News

FAC News Press Release

ProPublica Staffers Win 2018 FAC Award for “Trump Town” Investigative Series

The First Amendment Coalition is proud to announce the recipient of its 2018 Free Speech & Open Government Award is the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica, selected for its extensive use of public records to increase transparency around political appointees at the highest levels of government. This year’s award goes to ProPublica staffers Derek Kravitz, Al […]

November 28, 2018
Latest News

Cases Press Release

Foreign media at Olympics urged to press home governments to demand China lift internet censorship

[…] urged news organizations to demand that their own governments, as participants in the Olympics, pressure China to end internet censorship. "US and other foreign media in China for the Olympics should not quietly go along with official policies that forbid free speech and the exchange of information," said Peter Scheer, the Coalition's executive director. […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 3, 2009
Latest News

Blog

NSA surveillance case reflects a growing distrust in the federal judiciary

[…] decision in the NSA surveillance case reflects a growing distrust in the federal judiciary of the Bush administration's expansion of executive power By Peter Scheer Three cheers for Vaughn Walker. Vaughn who? you ask. Until very recently, he was also unknown to lawyers and policy makers in the White House. But on July 20 […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 2, 2009