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Court says NO to request by FAC and others for State Bar records needed for research on affirmative action

[…] the effect of law school affirmative action policies. The Court's ruling in the controversial litigation will be appealed. Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow of the California Superior Court for San Francisco ruled March 29, 2010 that the State Bar is not legally obligated to release the data sought by Richard H. Sander, a professor of […]

April 8, 2010
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Blog Cases

Court rules CA counties must disclose pension amounts paid to government retirees

[…] Bee and the California Newspaper Publishers Association, a California Superior Court has ruled that county governments, upon request, must disclose--by name--their retirees' pension payments. The Superior Court for Stanislaus County reasoned that the public interest in access to government employees' pensions outweighs the public interest in protecting the confidentiality of that information. In 2007 […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
November 6, 2009
Latest News

Conservatives’ faith in local government is misplaced: The closer government is to the people, the more government is controlled by special interests.

[…] (not state and local police, who tend to look the other way). I'm referring to the soft corruption of legislators and regulators who are bought and paid for by special interest groups, which are able to operate openly and with impunity at the state level. The truth is that state legislatures and regulatory agencies […]

May 3, 2012
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Cases

CFAC joins amicus brief backing documentary journalist jailed for refusing to turn over out-takes to federal prosecutors

CFAC, together with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Society of Professional Journalists and the WIW Freedom to Write Fund, has filed an amicus brief in the case of independent documentary film maker and self-styled anarchist, Josh Wolf. Here's a PDF of the brief. Wolf is in jail for having refused […]
- Press Freedom
June 2, 2009
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Blog

Celebrate Sunshine Week in California–Hold Public Officials Accountable for Access to Information

[…] to disclose the names and salaries of public employees making more than $100,000 a year. The California Supreme Court is considering that case. There's no good reason for the public officials in any of these cases to be fighting against disclosure. They are public officials doing the public's business, and being paid pretty well […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 2, 2009
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Blog

Can a journalist “plead the fifth” to avoid having to name a confidential source? A federal judge say yes.

Several years ago, when journalists by the dozen were being threatened with jail for refusing to name their confidential sources, I wrote an article urging them to invoke the fifth amendment's protection against self-incrimination--to use the fifth amendment to reinforce the first amendment-based "journalist’s privilege." This idea hasn't gotten much traction, until now: a federal […]
- Press Freedom
December 16, 2013
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Press Release

California Supreme Court Stops Cities From Charging Steep Fees for Video Redactions

The California Supreme Court today issued an opinion preventing government agencies from charging the public for editing and compiling police body camera footage and other electronic records before the records are released. The First Amendment Coalition and the California News Publishers Association filed an amicus brief in the case, National Lawyers Guild v. City […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
May 28, 2020
Latest News

California Reporting Project Wins 2019 FAC Award for Police Accountability Coverage

[…] Area News Group/Southern California News Group, Capital Public Radio, Investigative Studios (of UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program), KPCC/LAist, KQED and the Los Angeles Times to submit requests for records under California’s new police transparency law, Senate Bill 1421, and to share results. The initiative quickly grew, and now includes more than 40 newsrooms that […]

December 2, 2019
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Blog

California agencies have no business claiming copyright protection for public records

[…] to give citizens the right to information, typically in the form of records, about government policies and actions. Unless the requested records are subject to a specific exemption, an agency must turn them over. The records are in the public domain. The whole point of Copyright law, on the other hand, is to give […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 22, 2016
Latest News

Brown signs anti-sunshine bill, setting up 1st Amdt battle. Do labor rights trump democracy?

BY PETER SCHEER—Jerry Brown is often praised for his political independence, for his willingness to make policy choices that he thinks are right on the merits, even if it means angering poerful constituencies. But there are limits. They were reached in the latest legislative term in the Governor’s decision to sign legislation drafted and […]

October 27, 2015