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Court Access Newsgathering

FAC Supports Bill to Ensure More Affordable Access to Court Records

[…] California Legislature that would ensure anyone visiting a state trial courthouse can make copies of publicly available documents using their own devices and avoid paying steep fees for copies. AB 1524, authored by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, has bipartisan support and no official opposition on file. And for good reason: It's a modest but […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
July 2, 2025
Asked and Answered

Is it normal to receive multiple CPRA extensions for months?

I submitted a PRA Request almost a year ago. For months, I received semi-monthly updates that the agency needed to get the files from state archives. The most recent letter states that the agency is still reviewing my request for "confidential, privileged, or otherwise exempt" information under the CPRA. The letter provided a future […]

April 24, 2025
Cases

First Amendment

Gopher Media LLC v. Melone

[…] is necessary to prevent crushing litigation costs from chilling freedom of speech when an anti-SLAPP motion is wrongly denied. The brief was joined by Yelp Inc. and filed in tandem with an amicus brief from Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press arguing that the California anti-SLAPP statute should continue to apply in federal court.
- Free Expression
March 31, 2025
Latest News

Cases Press Release

FAC Files Freedom of Information Lawsuit Against DOGE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: [email protected] San Rafael, Calif. — The First Amendment Coalition and MSW Media today filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. DOGE Service for its failure to respond to FOIA requests seeking correspondence between Elon Musk and DOGE staff. Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Musk and […]

March 28, 2025
Cases

Public Records

Sacramento Television Stations, Inc. v. Superior Court

[…] transparency would be eviscerated. The brief below is joined by Californians Aware, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Los Angeles Times Communications LLC, The McClatchy Company, LLC, and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. BLOG: Behind the Headlines: How CBS Reporter Julie Watts is Pushing for Police Transparency (6/27/2024) LEGAL DOCUMENTS: Third District Court of Appeal […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
January 11, 2025
Latest News

Press Release

FAC Prevails in Public Records Case Brought by Teacher Accused of Sexual Misconduct with Students

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: [email protected] San Rafael, Calif. – A Solano County judge ruled on December 5 that the Napa Valley and Benicia Unified School Districts can release public records regarding former public school teacher Matthew Shelton’s alleged sexual abuse of students. Shelton has been charged with 12 counts of lewd acts on […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
December 9, 2024
Latest News

Cases Press Release

Cal Poly Student Settles Public Records Lawsuit Against University

The school released all non-exempt records and agreed to train staff to better fulfill requests FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: [email protected] San Rafael, Calif. – The First Amendment Coalition has reached a settlement in a Public Records Act lawsuit against the Board of Trustees of the California State University (CSU) system. FAC represents Elizabeth Wilson, […]

November 1, 2024
Latest News

Blog

Behind the Headlines: How EdSource Put Sunshine on Policing in California Schools

[…] on this. With limited exceptions, police in California have very wide discretion to provide nothing under the California Public Records Act, largely because of the investigatory records exemption,* which is very broad and almost never expires. Additionally, schools are subject to educational privacy rules, so what happens in them is often secret under the […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
October 14, 2024
Posts

FAC Opposes Legislation that Would Weaken Police Transparency
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 15, 2023
Latest News

Blog

Wikileaks didn’t just happen. It exists because journalists have lost control over their information.

[…] other documents--are not likely to change the course of the war. But they represent a sea change in the way journalists report on national security. The records for the Times' articles, which inevitably invite comparison to the "Pentagon Papers" of an earlier generation and an earlier war, were supplied to the Times not by […]
- Press Freedom
July 29, 2010