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Showing 861 - 870 of 1787 results

Asked and Answered

First Amendment Protest Rights

Each year police place greater limitations on my annual protest

The issue of to what extent the government may limit a request for a protest permit requires a complicated an highly contextual analysis that is unfortunately beyond the scope of the services offered by this hotline. As a very general matter, the government can impose reasonable and content-neutral time, place and matter restrictions on […]

October 18, 2013
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Agenda items failed to mention a parcel tax as part of ballot measure

The Brown Act, at Government Code section 52954.2, requires that for regular meetings the agenda contain "a brief general description of each item of business to be transacted or discussed at the meeting. . . . A brief general description of an item generally need not exceed 20 words. . . . No action […]

October 23, 2013
Asked and Answered

CPRA

University fails to make good faith effort to respond to records request

[…] sample request letter, of some use: https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/category/resources/access-to-records/. Holme Roberts & Owen LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to First Amendment Coalition hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation. Access to records

February 3, 2011
Asked and Answered

How much can I spend advertising against a ballot measure?

[…] that expenditures must be reported once specified monetary thresholds are reached. Governor Gray Davis Com. v. American Taxpayers Alliance, 102 Cal. App. 4th 449, 461 (2002). Under Government Code § 82013, a "committee" is defined as "any person or combination of persons who directly or indirectly does any of the following: (a) Receives contributions […]

July 7, 2010
Asked and Answered

CPRA

SF Unified School District Records

[…] asked about, applies to records in the possession of federal agencies). Under the PRA, any document that is collected, owned, or maintained by a state or local government agency is presumptively available for public inspection unless one of the Act's exemptions to disclosure applies. You do not need to exhaust any other administrative remedies […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Public records request run around from housing authority

I am not aware of any exception to the public records act for either payment of performance bonds or government contracts in general. As a general matter, all government contracts will be public records. Indeed, it seems here that the Housing Authority is not claiming otherwise. It merely is delaying the release of the […]

May 24, 2013
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Strategic question regarding a large PRA request

[…] from the California Department of Health Care Services. At this point, our questions are strategic. For example: are we likely to make more progress with a reluctant government agency by a series of requests, none of which is, in itself, unduly burdensome? Or are we likely to make faster progress by asking for everything […]

September 6, 2016
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Local School District Records

[…] asked about, applies to records in the possession of federal agencies). Under the PRA, any document that is collected, owned, or maintained by a state or local government agency is presumptively available for public inspection unless one of the Act's exemptions to disclosure applies. You do not need to exhaust any other administrative remedies […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Can Local Government Hold Public Meetings in A Federal Building Where No Cameras Are Allowed?

[…] described. Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to FAC hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation. No attorney-client relationship has been formed by way of this response.

June 14, 2018
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Can A Public Official Interrupt A Speaker During Public Comment Time?

[…] board during the public comment period. In addition to what the Brown Act requires with respect to giving the public the opportunity to address the board per Government Code 54954.3(a), courts have found that the Brown Act’s public comment requirements create a "limited public forum" subject to First Amendment scrutiny. Baca v. Moreno Valley Unified […]

May 30, 2018