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Public officials’ love of secrecy is no match for the public’s love to watch government decision-making up close. In California, democratic voyeurism prevails.

[…] ambitions notwithstanding, ain't the Governor. California’s chief executive, as the embodiment of state sovereignty, is entitled to a degree of deference that does not apply to lesser government officials. Even more important, the Governor's office is not covered by the Brown Act (or its equivalent for state agencies, the Bagley-Keene Act) and its guarantee […]
- Public Meetings
June 2, 2009
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California agencies have no business claiming copyright protection for public records

[…] other creative types in the private sector? Yes, but the federal Copyright Act also allows states to elect copyright protection. This is a big deal. Copyright protection for government records poses a real danger because copyright is in direct conflict with the public’s right of access, under state FOI laws, to government records. The whole […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
- Public Records
June 22, 2016
Asked and Answered

CPRA

How can I find out if a non-profit is cooking the books?

[…] from these departments are often excluded from public view due to the exemption.) Bryan Cave 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.

May 21, 2015
Asked and Answered

CPRA

When government outsources program are documents public?

[…] by going to the website of their red light camera vendor, selecting the report from an on-screen menu of report types, then selecting the intersection to be covered by the report, and entering the beginning and ending dates of the period of interest (the "parameters"). The database program prepares the report immediately. I have […]

October 10, 2011
Asked and Answered

Is it legal to profit by selling information from public records?

[…] "services" such as mapping, notification alerts, etc. whenever an offender moves in or out of a certain area . AlertID is the service utilized by many local governments and is integrated into their registry websites, but AlertID also apparently offers these services directly to the public. Not surprisingly these companies almost always use scare […]

September 17, 2013
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

How Can We Obtain Criminal Charges Against Our Community Service District for Violations of the Brown Act?

[…] the district attorney’s attention. Should you decide to pursue an enforcement action yourself, you have essentially three options to enforce the Act: (1) a suit over a government entity’s alleged violation of the Act based on that entity’s past violation of the Brown Act; (2) a suit to contest or enjoin ongoing or future […]

January 20, 2021
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Wanted by the FBI: Journalists’ phone records showing calls to and from confidential sources.

[…] of an apparent leak investigation. Neither ABC nor the reporters, Brian Ross and Richard Esposito, had an opportunity to go to court and try to block the government’s access to the phone records—by the time they found out what the government was up to (which, ironically, they learned unofficially, through a leak from the […]
- Press Freedom
June 2, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Council-elect make decisions, but claim documents are not public

[…] agency; or entities that are legislative bodies of a local agency pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 54952."Gov't Code section 6252(a). Section 54952(c) of the Government Code defines a "legislative body" as: (1) A board, commission, committee, or other multimember body that governs a private corporation, limited liability company, or other entity […]

October 21, 2010
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Co-op non-profits

[…] a general rule, open meeting laws (such as the most commonly-applied, the Brown Act, which governs the public's access to meetings of local agencies), only apply to government agencies. The only private entity subject to the Brown Act is a "board, commission, committee or other multimember body that governs a private corporation or entity […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

Bagley-Keene Act Brown Act

Are Community College Faculty Senate meetings covered by the Brown Act?

[…] give you may be "maybe." Community Colleges are state entities, rather than local governmental entities, and thus the open meeting law potentially applicable is the Bagley-Keene Act, Government Code sections 11120-11132. The Bagley-Keene Act applies to "state bodies," which defines as "every state board, or commission, that is created by statute or required by […]

January 30, 2012