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Lies, bigoted rants and snuff videos: Why defense of free speech often entails defense of seriously unsavory characters.

[…] politician and serial liar (no redundancy intended) who claimed to have served in the Marines (a lie) and to have been awarded the nation's highest military honor for heroism in combat (another lie). He has been prosecuted under the federal "Stolen Valor Act" for the speech-crime of claiming falsely to have received the Congressional […]
- Free Expression
- Press Freedom
February 7, 2012
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Judge orders release of SF Ethics Comm’n docs, despite claim of attorney privilege

[…] that the privilege applied because the documents consisted of communications between his and the city attorney's offices. Plaintiff Allen Grossman, a San Francisco resident and long-time activist for open government, noted that Sunshine Ordinance Sec. 67.24(b)(1)(iii) establishes disclosability of city attorney's advice regarding city and state open-meetings and public-records laws and ethics codes. Though […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
November 1, 2013
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Judge Kozinski leads effort to curtail CA’s anti-SLAPP statute

California's anti-SLAPP law, which provides an effective shield to media organizations sued for libel, invasion of privacy and the like, could soon be a lot less effective if Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, ordinarily a strong advocate for First Amendment protections, has his way. In a concurring opinion to a recent decision, Judge […]
- Press Freedom
April 30, 2013
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It starts again: A Washington, DC judge has ordered 5 journalists to name their confidential sources for stories about the anthrax letters of 2001

By Peter Scheer Just when you thought it was safe again for journalists to talk to confidential sources inside government, a federal judge in Washington, DC has ordered five prominent reporters---Allan Lengel of the Washington Post; Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman, both of Newsweek; Toni Locy, formerly of USA Today; and James Stewart of […]
- Press Freedom
June 3, 2009
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IRS censorship of nonprofits must give way to the First Amendment

[…] am supposed to keep such thoughts to myself. The freedom to engage in public debate during the run-up to an election---criticizing one candidate, supporting an opponent---is taken for granted in America and rightly considered a birthright of citizenship. But this freedom does not exist for organizations, like FAC, that are exempt from tax under […]

July 28, 2016
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In Separate Moves, State and Federal Courts in California OK Policy Changes Allowing Greater Public Access

BY PETER SCHEER --- The courts in California are often criticized for being out of step with the rest of the country. A willingness among judges to deviate from national orthodoxy is not necessarily a bad thing, however. Just this week the administrative arm of the California Supreme Court adopted a rule providing public […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
December 18, 2009
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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: [email protected] 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
April 27, 2023
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Government officials should listen to voters instead of lawyers selling strategies for blocking access to information

[…] into government's DNA. But some efforts to withhold information are more dangerous to democracy than others. The most dangerous are government lying (about the existence of documents, for example), particularly in circumstances where officials lie with impunity. Almost as dangerous, but less obviously so, are situations in which government agencies restructure the way they […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
March 24, 2014
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Google’s Antitrust Wrist Slap Is Right Result for Wrong Reason. Right Reason: Google Search Results are Protected Speech

[…] relative to other search results, and the presentation generally of website pages responsive to a search -- these choices constitute editorial functions, subject to the strongest safeguards for free speech. The New York Times (or The Huffington Post, Wired.com or other reputable news organization of your choice) gets to decide -- free from government […]

January 7, 2013
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Gmail Nation: The Privatization of Public Records and Public Access

[…] otherwise public records by simply using Gmail. And yet the law has been surprisingly slow to recognize this principle. Private email accounts have been in widespread use for almost two decades now, and we know that for just as long government officials have been using such accounts to transact public business. If the timing […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
April 25, 2017