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accountability

California: Disturbing lack of transparency in firing Atwater superintendent

donal brown May 14, 2012

By a 3-2 vote the trustees of the Atwater Elementary School District fired the district superintendent, Melinda Hennes,  without explanation. Hennes had been on the job for seven years and recently received a favorable evaluation from the trustees. The trustees owe the public an explanation not only for the firing but also how the three reached the decision to fire Hennes without any official meeting time, argues the Merced Sun-Star in an editorial. -db From

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California school boards enjoy exemption to open meeting law

donal brown March 29, 2012

Passed in 1975, the Rodda Act allows school boards and community college districts to short circuit the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, in dealing with labor negotiations. There are drawbacks to scheduling secret meetings in that employee unions will bring charges of Brown Act violations resulting in a loss of confidence with the public, writes Chet Quaide for Ed Law Connect. -db From a commentary in Ed Law Connect, March 26, 2012, by

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ACLU challenges federal government on records of drone attacks killing U.S. citizens in Yemen

donal brown February 2, 2012

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Obama administration to force them to release records related to the deaths by drone attacks of three U.S. citizens in Yemen. The administration cited national security in denying the request for the documents under the Freedom of Information Act, but the ACLU said the drone program should not be allowed to operate without transparency and accountability. -db From The Washington Post, February 1, 2012, by Karen DeYoung.

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California: Long Beach wants state court to keep names of officers involved in shootings secret

donal brown January 30, 2012

Long Beach and a police officers group are asking an appeals court  to overturn a lower court ruling that the city must provide the names of officers involved in shootings. After a controversial shooting of an unarmed man in Long Beach in 2010, the Los Angeles Times asked the city to provide the identities of officers involved in shootings. The city contended that the records of shootings were part of personnel files and not for

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