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Latest News

Cases

Amicus Briefs Digest, Sept. 2017

[…] a court denied attorneys’ fees to the LA Times, even though the Times won access to the records it sought. Monterey County police scanners: FAC joined a letter by a coalition of Central Coast news outlets urging police and fire officials in the Monterey County area to continue to provide media access to police […]
September 27, 2017
Posts

First Amendment

Proposed San Diego Board of Supervisor Public Meeting Rules Violate First Amendment, FAC Warns

The San Diego Board of Supervisors proposed a handful of amendments to its Meeting Management Rules that would limit public participation and stifle free speech at public meetings in violation of the First Amendment and/or the Brown Act. FAC sent the following letter detailing why these proposed changes should be reconsidered.
- Public Meetings
December 12, 2024
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Personnel Files

[…] reasons for why disclosure of performance evaluations (if not part of disciplinary records containing well-founded complaints of a "substantial nature") would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy in light of the California Attorney General Opinion cited above. A sample PRA request letter can be found on the CFAC website at the following link: https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/cpra-primer/sample-cpra-request-letter/

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Text-Messaging Public Records

[…] Only purely personal information unrelated to ‘the conduct of the public's business’ could be considered exempt from this definition, i.e., the shopping list phoned from home, the letter to a public officer from a friend which is totally void of reference to governmental activities." California State Univ., Fresno Ass'n, Inc. v. Superior Court, 90 […]

June 14, 2009
Latest News

Cases

Amici Briefs Digest, March 2, 2017

[…] other more broad. The amicus brief joined by FAC urges the high court to disapprove the former and adopt the latter. Dual Diagnostic Treatment Center v. Buschel—Amicus letter to the California Supreme Court urging that Court to grant review of a case where we urge a broader interpretation of the "public interest" component of […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
March 3, 2017
Latest News

Blog

Trump By The Numbers: The Best of (New York) Times and the Worst of (New York) Times

[…] though they may not believe what they see. They will adjust, and so will the numbers. This appears to be the conventional wisdom, and it may be correct. But the public’s clearly heightened interest in reading the news -- now sustained for more than three months -- suggests that people have not yet given […]
- Press Freedom
March 15, 2017
Posts

First Amendment Press Rights

FAC Protests Removal of Press and Public from Shasta County Board of Supervisors Meeting

This letter protests the removal of the press and public from the Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting on November 7, 2024. The removal violated the Brown Act’s open-meetings protections and raises serious First Amendment concerns.
- Government Transparency and Accountability
November 19, 2024
Asked and Answered

First Amendment

Passing out flyers in front of a public school

Is it permissible to pass out flyers on the sidewalk in front of a public school? We are passing out flyers about our school in front of local public schools. Consistently, the principals tell us that this is not permissible. It is my understanding that we are allowed to do this as long as we […]

June 14, 2009
Posts

FAC opposes bill that would weaken open-meetings protections

[…] that public meetings be held in public places, where those who choose to perform public service are accessible to the communities they are serving. Read our opposition letter. And tell the Senate Local Government Committee to vote no on AB 817. You can also write directly to the committee chair, Sen. María Elana Durazo, […]
- Public Meetings
June 3, 2024
Posts

Press Rights

Our California Legislative Priorities Focus on Police Transparency and Press Protections

[…] priorities for the 2021 California legislative session focus on advancing police transparency, strengthening press and protester protections, and opposing government secrecy in all forms. Read our position letters to see where we stand on bills we are monitoring: FAC supports these bills AB 339: Enhances public access to meetings AB 48: Protecting press and […]
April 6, 2021