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Showing 91 - 100 of 118 results

  • Latest News

    Press Release

    California Supreme Court Stops Cities From Charging Steep Fees for Video Redactions

    The California Supreme Court today issued an opinion preventing government agencies from charging the public for editing and compiling police body camera footage and other electronic records before the records are released. The First Amendment Coalition and the California News Publishers Association filed an amicus brief in the case, National Lawyers Guild v. City of […]

    May 28, 2020

  • Posts

    Press Rights

    Governor Brown decides fate of open-government bills

    […] to prisoners that has been passed by the legislature only to be vetoed by the governor. (Actually, four governors). SB 1002: Bill to require agencies to provide electronic records in an open, searchable format. Governor Brown vetoed this bill, introduced by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco). The bill’s original intent was to require agencies to […]

    October 12, 2012

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    Online Sheriff’s Blotter

    […] this statement: "Due to security concerns, we have discontinued posting detailed inmate information on this website. Information required to be disclosed under Government Code section 6254(f)(1) of the California Public Records Act may be obtained by calling Inmate Records at (714) 647-4666." At the time I complained about this, since it was much slower than seeing the information […]

    June 14, 2009

  • Asked and Answered

    Brown Act

    A City Council’s COVID-19 Ordinance Allows Only email or Pre-Recorded Telephonic Comments

    […] local legislative body or state body that holds a meeting via teleconferencing and allows members of the public to observe and address the meeting telephonically or otherwise electronically. . . shall have satisfied any requirement that the body allow members of the public to attend the meeting and offer public comment. Such a body […]

    January 20, 2021

  • Latest News

    Blog Cases

    FAC, EFF and Wired win unsealing of documents in hip-hop website seizure case

    […] unsealed records related to a government shutdown of a music blog/website, Dajaz1.com, for suspicion of copyright piracy. The unsealing had been requested by FAC, Wired, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Using a forfeiture authority usually invoked to seize cars and houses in drug cases, federal authorities had seized the hip hop website, then avoided […]

    May 16, 2012

  • Asked and Answered

    Newsgathering

    Potential Eavesdropping, Amplifying Speakerphone

    Does Penal Code section 632 (a) include a speakerphone conversation in the definition of "electronic amplifying"? I use speakerphone while working on the computer, however none of my conversations are considered confidential.

    June 14, 2009

  • Posts

    A Guide to 2023 Open Meetings Law Changes

    […] the new law, a state body that holds a meeting through teleconferencing and allows members of the public to observe and address the meeting telephonically or otherwise electronically would satisfy any requirement that the state body allow members of the public to attend the meeting and offer public comment. AB/SB 189 requires that each […]

    February 16, 2023

  • Latest News

    Cases

    Amici Briefs Digest, Dec. 2017

    […] amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It argues that the federal statute that authorizes National Security Letters --commonly used to obtain customer records from electronic communication service providers -- is unconstitutional because it requires a prior restraint in violation of the First Amendment. The statute, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2709, 3511, allows […]

    December 8, 2017

  • Asked and Answered

    CPRA

    911 transcripts

    As a general rule, any paper and electronic documents collected, owned, or maintained by a state or local agency is a public record for the purposes of the California Public Records Act, Government Code section 6250 et seq., and is available for public inspection and copying unless one of the Act's exemptions applies.  If […]

    June 14, 2009

  • Posts

    FAC Supports AB 1758 to Limit Cost of Courts Records in California 

    FAC supports Assembly Bill 1758, which would reduce barriers to public information by prohibiting California courts from charging unreasonable fees to search, view or download electronic records on court websites. Read our joint letter with the California News Publishers Association in support of AB 1758. You can track the bill's status on the California Legislature's website.

    April 14, 2023