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Asked and Answered

CPRA

CPRA ten-day deadline for request responses: Is that business days or calendar days?

Regarding the CPRA's mandate that an agency must respond to a request within 10 days, FAC and other groups claim this means calendar days, not working days. Is there some compelling basis for this belief?

September 16, 2015
Latest News

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
- Public Records
October 21, 2019
Latest News

Blog

Short Takes: government email, historical police records, fee awards against requesters

BY PETER SCHEER--Despite the dysfunction in Washington, Congress occasionally surprises with a modest piece of legislation that points the way for California and many other states. So it is with a 2014 Federal Records Act amendment which addresses this question: Suppose a federal employee, using his own personal text or email account, sends a […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
January 21, 2015
Posts

FAC Joins Coalition Urging SF Mayor to Restore Rights Under Sunshine Ordinance

[…] to receive documents and information exchanged during contract negotiations, nor the right to a response to a Public Records Act request unimpeded by the often abused 'catch-all' exemption from disclosure found in Government Code section 6255, to combat this public health emergency. In fact, the Sunshine Ordinance section expressly forbids 'assert(ing) an exemption for […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
April 20, 2020
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Removing Personal Information from Public Record

[…] but I also like to keep my personal life private like those other people who never live in the USA. I have not been residing in USA for almost 10 years now and there's no reason that my public records are out there. I do not owe any debts either. No need to apply […]

June 14, 2009
Latest News

Blog Cases

FAC Joins Brief Urging California Supreme Court to Hold That Internet Content Providers Have a Right Under the First Amendment to Defend Speech on Their Websites
- Free Expression
April 20, 2017
Asked and Answered

First Amendment

Defamation and libel in statements to elected officials

[…] in the initiation of any governmental proceeding (such as a city council meeting), such as a city council meeting, is absolutely privileged and cannot form the basis for a lawsuit. See, e.g., Cayley v. Nunn, 190 Cal. App. 3d 300, 303 (1987) ("the privilege ... applies to local city council proceedings."); Scott v. McDonnell […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Can An Agency Charge Fees for Inspecting Public Records?

[…] inspect emails or get copies of emails based on Government Code section 6253.9(b)? Are they allowed to use rule of cost to construct a record, and the cost of programming and computer services necessary to produce a copy of the record, for the charging of emails either to inspect them or get copies of them?

February 26, 2018
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: fac@firstamendmentcoalition.org 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
- Public Records
April 27, 2023
Latest News

Blog

Tracy case tests the power of government officials to avoid disclosure of their emails on public business

[…] accepted by the courts, would convert California’s Public Records Act into its opposite, an Official Secrecy Act. Elected officials and public employees would use official email accounts for proclamations, resolutions, press releases and other official drivel intended for public consumption, while switching to their personal yahoo accounts, insulated from public attention, for everything else--which […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
June 2, 2009