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Press Release

FAC, ACLU Sue City of Fresno for Open Meetings Law Violation

[…] negotiated the city’s annual budget behind closed doors, violating California’s law on open public meetings and depriving the people of their fundamental right to transparency in local government. The City’s proposed budget is then typically rubber-stamped by the City Council. For example, during Fresno’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget process, the Budget Committee — composed […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
November 15, 2023
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Blog

SCOTUS is about to bring down hammer on public sector unions. That will be good for democracy, not so good for freedom of speech.

[…] overtly political activities, like lobbying and campaign contributions. The public employees in the Friedrich case---teachers in Los Angeles public schools---argue that collective bargaining between unions and the government is no less political than campaign contributions or lobbying. When public sector unions bargain with a state or local government agency over pensions, health insurance, average […]
- Free Expression
January 20, 2016
Cases

Public Meetings

ACLU and First Amendment Coalition v. City of Fresno

With the ACLU of Northern California, FAC sued the City of Fresno for holding secret budget negotiations in violation of the Brown Act, California’s open meetings law for local governments.
- Government Transparency and Accountability
July 8, 2024
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Cases Press Release

Key settlement in FAC case breaks new ground in public access to officials’ emails

July 24, 2012—The First Amendment Coalition is pleased to announce a landmark settlement in a case involving public access to government email messages. The agreement with the city of Auburn, California requires the city to save emails for at least two years–replacing a prior policy of deleting most emails after 30 days. The agreement, […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
July 25, 2012
Latest News

FAC News Press Release

Introducing Our Police Transparency Guide

[…] have better information about how police officers interact with the public and do their jobs, as recent protests helped show. Protecting the public’s right of access to government records is essential to the democratic process. I’m very pleased to create a resource that is available to anyone seeking answers about police conduct in California." […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
October 6, 2020
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Cases Press Release

FAC Urges Reversal of Ruling Allowing Secret Government Meetings for Speculative ‘Public Safety’ Concerns

The First Amendment Coalition (FAC) today filed an amicus brief in a California Court of Appeal case that could have far-reaching consequences for the transparency of government meetings. In the brief, FAC urges the court to find that Metrolink, Southern California’s largest commuter rail system, violated the state’s open-meetings laws when it barred the […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
May 14, 2018
Latest News

Cases Press Release

FAC and Local Community Group Sue San Jose Over Secret Negotiations With Google

[…] the city to disclose those records. "The public is entitled to know what elected leaders are doing and saying in negotiations with corporations doing business with the government—especially where those companies are as large and powerful as Google," said FAC Executive Director David Snyder. "NDAs do not and cannot override elected leaders’ obligations to […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
November 13, 2018
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Blog Cases

Court rules CA counties must disclose pension amounts paid to government retirees

[…] has ruled that county governments, upon request, must disclose--by name--their retirees' pension payments. The Superior Court for Stanislaus County reasoned that the public interest in access to government employees' pensions outweighs the public interest in protecting the confidentiality of that information. In 2007 the California Supreme Court ruled that government employees' salaries--including employee names--are […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
November 6, 2009
Latest News

Blog Cases

Big victory in CA Supreme Court case on public access to government data

In a major victory for open government and data access, the California Supreme Court yesterday ruled that Orange County cannot restrict access to its electronic mapping data--a so-called "basemap." The Court decided unanimously that the county basemap is a public record under the Public Records Act, which means that it must be made available […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
July 10, 2013
Latest News

Cases

Amici Briefs Digest – March 2018

[…] the issue of whether the mere existence of probable cause to arrest an individual defeats that individual’s ability to bring a First Amendment retaliation lawsuit against the government--i.e., a lawsuit alleging that the government retaliated against the individual for exercising free-expression rights protected under the First Amendment. FAC joined an amicus by the National […]
- Free Expression
- Press Freedom
March 7, 2018