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Blog

No more slaps on the wrist: Public Spankings for violators of open-government laws

[…] A source of great frustration to advocates of government openness and accountability is the absence of any meaningful enforcement of California’s open government laws. Although in theory serial violators of the Brown Act and the Public Records Act may face prosecution for their offenses, the reality is that they face no real sanction at […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 2, 2009
Asked and Answered

First Amendment Protest Rights

I Believe My University Has Infringed on My Right to Free Speech. How Can I Fight Back?

[…] public email list (a thousand or so people associated with the campaign). The intention of this email was for those in the student campaign to upcoming regents' meetings and speak out against the use of police violence against protesting students, low wages, and mass firings. The use of a public forum to critique university […]

April 21, 2022
Latest News

Blog

California agencies have no business claiming copyright protection for public records

[…] intellectual property paid for with tax dollars. In 2015, the mayor of Inglewood claimed copyright infringement to silence a citizen who used video excerpts from city council meetings to criticize the mayor and his policies. A federal district judge threw out the city’s lawsuit, ordering Inglewood not only to desist in trying to censor […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
June 22, 2016
Latest News

Blog

Time to shed light on CalPERS’ private equity investments
- Government Transparency and Accountability
July 15, 2014
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA Newsgathering

Police dispatch calls

[…] for challenging this under California law. The public records act only covers writings, not oral communications. Government Code section 6252(d). And such police communications would not constitute meetings that are a required to be open to the public under the Brown Act. I'm not currently aware of this case arising elsewhere in the US; […]

June 14, 2009
Latest News

FAC News Press Release

FAC to Mentor Journalists for National Boot Camp

[…] rights and protest rights. Past workshops have been for groups pursuing law enforcement records, organizations training their members to hold local government accountable, and others. The First Amendment Coalition also offers a suite of published guides on police transparency laws, and using the California Public Records Act and open meetings laws to hold government accountable.

November 22, 2023
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Foreign Nationals’ Open Government Rights

No, the rights created by CA's access laws are not limited to citizens. Citizenship is irrelevant. Even foreign individuals and foreign corporations may assert the rights to open meetings (the Brown Act) and rights to public records (the California Public Records Act).

June 14, 2009
Posts

Assembly approves constitutional amendment to protect CPRA, Brown Act

[…] Leno (D-SF), will be inserted into Article 1, section 3 of the constitution as new Section 3(b)(7), as follows: In order to ensure public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, as specified in paragraph (1), each local agency is hereby required to comply with the […]
July 1, 2013
Latest News

FAC News Press Release

NEW name, NEW website, Bigger role, Same mission

[…] in a case before the Court of Appeals for the US fifth circuit (based in Texas), we filed our own amicus brief to defend local government open- meeting laws, like California’s Brown Act, from a potentially devastating national legal challenge. But make no mistake: California remains at the top of FAC's priorities, even if […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
September 22, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act First Amendment

Can the city manager demand political cartoons removed from senior center?

[…] Manager was probably correct that the Brown Act does not apply, but only because, from the facts in your inquiry, there does not seem to be any meeting of a "legislative body" involved here, which is what would trigger that particular body of law. Rather, it sounds like broader First Amendment considerations are at […]

November 18, 2011