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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
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Obama blasts Afghans for expelling reporter who refused to ID confidential sources. So why the continued pursuit, at home, of NYT reporter James Risen?

To its credit, the Obama administration was quick and forceful in its condemnation of the Afghan government’s expulsion of New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg, who had angered the Karzai government by reporting that high-level Afghan officials were considering bypassing electoral procedures to establish an interim government—in effect, to stage a coup. But the […]
- Press Freedom
August 23, 2014
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Blog Cases

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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Illegal immigrants have access rights too. The benefits of the Brown Act and Public Records Act do not depend on citizenship.

By Peter Scheer California's open government laws--the Brown Act and the Public Records Act, primarily--are often said to vindicate the "people's right to know" about their government. And indeed they do. But this formulation begs the question: which "people" exactly? At the country's founding, seemingly universalist references to "the people" actually meant a minority […]

June 2, 2009
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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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Press Release

Coalition Urges Compliance with California Public Records Law Amid COVID-19 Crisis

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some government agencies in California have announced that they intend to stop responding to California Public Records Act requests until the crisis passes. There is no legal basis for this extraordinary step. The California Public Records Act, Gov. Code § 6250, et seq., remains the law of the […]

March 23, 2020
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Press Release

California First Amendment Coalition to Tell Congressional Commission that China’s Internet Censorship Violates WTO Treaties

CFAC, June 16, 2008--The California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC) will testify before a Congressional commission this week concerning the Chinese government's system of internet censorship, which CFAC is challenging as a violation of free trade treaties enforced by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The hearings on "Access to Information and Media Control in the […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 3, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Senior Center Boards and the Brown Act

[…] possible that the school district may cite privacy as a reason to turn down your request, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are correct to do so. Government Code section 6254 provides that " Except as provided in Section 6254.7, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require disclosure of records that are […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA FOIA

Hospital Records

[…] would be seeking the records is a state or local agency for the purpose of the PRA. The terms "state agency" and "local agency" are defined at Government Code section 6252. Thee full text of the PRA can be found at the following link: http://www.cfac.org/Law/CPRA/Text/cpra_text.html). As you review section 6254, note that the term […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Emailed Public Comments Were Not Read as Promised at Board of Supervisors Meeting Closed By Coronavirus

[…] requirements of the Brown Act are being violated, you may bring essentially three types of legal suits to enforce the Brown Act: (1) a suit over a government entity’s alleged violation of the Act based on the that entity’s past violation of the Brown Act; (2) a suit to contest or enjoin ongoing or […]

August 12, 2020