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First Amendment panel finds promise, pitfalls in social media

[…] easy to find even if you try to restrict access." Sager cited recent suits resulting from careless postings. In July a landlord in Chicago sued a tenant for $50,000 when the tenant tweeted about her "moldy apartment". And last March a fashion designer sued Courtney Love for defamation after Love called her a "nasty […]
- Press Freedom
November 3, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA

How can I Access Information On a Parolee in California

I'm trying to find out how to access a record from the parole office to determine the date a certain parolee absconded. Can you help? Is there a sample letter for making a request?

January 20, 2021
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Who can request documents under the CPRA?

[…] it can be more efficient to use those forms, since they are more familiar to the agency personnel processing the requests. Bryan Cave LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to FAC hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues […]

September 19, 2012
Asked and Answered

First Amendment

How do I find court rulings against stores that block petitioners?

I would like to find all the rulings against Target stores for blocking petitioning at their stores.

July 19, 2012
Latest News

Cases Press Release

FAC Again Prevails in Unsealing Search Warrants Executed on SF Journalist Bryan Carmody

Three San Francisco judges on Friday ordered the public release of sealed applications for three search warrants executed on freelance journalist Bryan Carmody —for his home, office and phone. The release of these materials should help answer a central question in the Carmody saga: how the San Francisco Police Department was able to obtain […]
- Press Freedom
August 5, 2019
Latest News

Blog

Locy and Risen cases renew debate over protecting journalists’ confidential sources

By Peter Scheer Just when you thought it was safe again for journalists to promise anonymity to confidential sources, federal judicial power is being applied with renewed enthusiasm to force reporters to out their sources. A federal grand jury in Alexandria, VA has subpoenaed New York Times reporter James Risen to testify about his […]
- Press Freedom
June 3, 2009
Latest News

FAC News Press Release

Announcing FAC’s 2014 Free Speech & Open Government Award Winners

[…] of investigative journalism and the other demonstrating the effectiveness of advocacy using government data and the internet. They are both equally deserving of public honor and emulation for their advancement of government transparency: Sacramento Bee investigative reporter Charles Piller is honored for his three-year effort to uncover construction flaws and apparent fraud in the […]

December 2, 2014
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 […]
- Public Meetings
June 2, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Can CA Alcoholic Beverage Control withhold documents?

I have tried for over a year to get certain documents from the California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to no avail. I have a lot of backstory and email exchanges. I also have a lot of experience through activism and advocacy regarding their policies and am asking relatively clear questions and requesting data I […]

September 15, 2014
Latest News

Blog

Firestorm started by Vietnamese newspaper shows both owners and demonstrators in need of free speech remedial training

[…] response may range, depending on the gravity of the offense, from a flurry of angry letters-to-the-editor, to a the offending article blizzard of emails and faxes, demands for retraction, and calls for readers to cancel their subscriptions. Normalcy usually returns after a few days, at most a week or two--often with readership at a […]
- Free Expression
- Press Freedom
June 3, 2009