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CFAC sponsors bill to prevent agencies from using anti-SLAPP law to deter citizens' open-gov suits

[…] open records and open meetings laws. The bill, SB 786, has been introduced by State Senator Leland Yee. SB 786 is directed to lawsuits in which a government agency, defending itself from a claim of violation of the Public Records Act, the Brown Act or the Bagley-Keene Act, invokes the state anti-SLAPP law in […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 2, 2009
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When mayors evade disclosure rules by using personal email accounts for city business, it is democracy that suffers. We’ll know soon if the courts, like the public, have lost patience.

For years government officials in California have known that their emails about official business are subject to disclosure as public records. Although mayors, city managers, supervisors and superintendents may not like this, the applicability of the public records law to email messages is settled. You will not be shocked to learn, however, that many […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
February 6, 2014
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Short Takes: government email, historical police records, fee awards against requesters

[…] Federal Records Act amendment which addresses this question: Suppose a federal employee, using his own personal text or email account, sends a message that is clearly about government business? The Federal Records Act amendment, at section 2911, says that the employee is now required either to copy "an official electronic messaging account . . […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
January 21, 2015
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Judge plugs ‘private email’ loophole in CA public records law

[…] Scheer told the Mercury News that he’s confident the appeal will reaffirm the original ruling: "That will force all California cities and counties to treat emails about government business as public records, regardless of the status or ownership of the email accounts or devices. What matters is the substance of the message — is […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
March 20, 2013
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Gmail Nation: The Privatization of Public Records and Public Access

By DAVID SNYDER—The California Supreme Court ruled last month that records stored on government officials’ personal email accounts are subject to the California Public Records Act. This answer seems obvious: government officials should not be able to conceal otherwise public records by simply using Gmail. And yet the law has been surprisingly slow to […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
April 25, 2017
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FAC Sues Bakersfield For Open Meetings, Records Violations

[…] asserting the city had not violated the law. The city also failed to produce the documents FAC requested. The FAC-Cal Aware lawsuit followed. "The public can’t hold their government accountable unless they know what their government is doing," Snyder said. "We’re going to make sure they do." +++ Attorney Kelly Aviles of Los Angeles is […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
December 22, 2017
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FAC Litigation Report: update on select current cases

FAC has been hard at work in state and federal court, fighting to keep government transparent and our elected leaders accountable. Here are brief summaries of some recent developments in select FAC cases: Drone Memo Case: FAC in the Ninth Circuit FAC lawyers were in court again last month in a lawsuit that helped […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
January 17, 2017
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Can local legislators speak freely to voters? The answer should be an emphatic “yes.” Too often the answer given is “maybe.”

BY PETER SCHEER--Local government, Republicans and Democrats agree, is the most democratic (with a small d) form of government. The closer government is to the people, the theory goes, the more accountable it is to voters and the more responsive to the public will. Congress is the most remote, hence least accountable; your local […]

December 16, 2014
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Special Meetings and Means of Notice

[…] participate in a conference call. The meeting was not called because the General Manager (that will be replaced) replied with this information via the district's attorney: "The Brown Act requires actual,written notice to all 5 Board members in order to call a special meeting." Does the Brown Act prevent a board from holding a […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Brown Act Rules About Late Night Meeting

[…] general circulation, radio station or television station that has in writing requested notice. The notice must also be posted in a location freely accessible to the public. Government Code section 54956. The notice must specify the time and place of the special meeting and the business to be discussed. Only the business specified for […]

April 9, 2018