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Journalistic Standards v. California Labor Code

[…] and political activities. The Daily Triplicate is being sued in federal District Court by Kent Gray, a former staff reporter. Gray was fired after becoming a candidate for the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors in 2003. A month prior Gray had alerted his editor, Mike Schmeltzer, of his intensions to run for office […]

June 2, 2009
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Hillary’s email problem: A crucial lesson for government officials everywhere

BY PETER SCHEER--Across the country literally thousands of state and local political officials, from governors to local school superintendents, use their personal email accounts for sending and receiving messages about government business. Hardly surprising. All public officials support government transparency in the abstract, but when it comes to their own communications, most opt for […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
March 17, 2015
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Blog

Government Secrecy Must Not Be the Legacy of Mass Shooting

[…] moments. But in the case of the massacre at the Borderline Bar & Grill in the Ventura County city of Thousand Oaks,thoserecords have remained secret. The reason for the secrecy is unacceptable. A judge blocked their release based on the prospect of a future law change. That threatens the integrity of the California Public Records Act. […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
October 6, 2021
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Government officials use personal email and texting to avoid public access laws. Why not use technology to enhance accountability instead of to subvert it?

[…] PETER SCHEER---All public officials favor open government in principle. Who would dare say otherwise? In reality, however, they are in a perpetual search, guided by clever lawyers, for new ways to circumvent disclosure requirements--at best, because they view requests for records as a nuisance, and at worst, because they have something to hide (which […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
August 22, 2009
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Blog

Free the Hewlett-Packard 5!

[…] California Attorney General Bill Lockyer wasted no time in filing criminal charges against former Hewlett-Packard Chairwoman Patricia Dunn, H-P's senior legal counsel and three outside security consultants for alleged crimes committed in the course of an over-zealous effort to plug leaks in the H-P boardroom. Lockyer's haste has nothing to do with the urgency […]
- Press Freedom
June 2, 2009
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Advocacy Blog Cases

Four Open-Government Battles We Are Fighting and Why They Matter

Even from the perspective of the happy warriors here at FAC, it hasn’t been the best year for First Amendment rights and government transparency. In some ways, 2019 plumbed new lows, with governments at all levels continuing their assault on press freedoms, free speech, and government transparency. But we’re not letting the curtains come […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
December 19, 2019
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FAC News Press Release

Former FAC Executive Director Peter Scheer Awarded Society of Professional Journalists Career Achievement Prize

[…] Peter Scheer has been named the 2017 recipient of the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists’ career achievement award--a signal honor marking his advocacy, over many years, for free speech, a free press and the public’s right to know. Scheer, 65, will accept the Norwin S. Yoffie Award for Career Achievement on March 22 […]

February 22, 2017
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Blog Cases

For Obama’s Nominee to Head CIA: a Few Questions on Use of Drone Strikes

BY PETER SCHEER---John Brennan, President Obama's nominee for Director of the CIA, has the bad luck of having to testify before Congress just days after publication of a Justice Department "white paper" containing the administration's legal justification for the targeted killing of high-level Al Qaeda members who are also American citizens. The undated and unsigned […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
March 5, 2013
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Blog Events

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
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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