Federal court rules against student wearing message T-shirt

A federal appeals court ruled that a Texas school district dress code did not deprive students of the First Amendment rights of expression. A student sued after the school banned his shirt supporting John Edwards for president. -DB First Amendment Law Prof Blog August 24, 2009 By Kathleen Bergin The First Amendment doesn’t prohibit a dress [...]

Public denied details of bids for failed banks

Banking insiders are wondering why the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is no longer disclosing information on bids for failed banks. The information is needed to formulate future bids and should be available under the Freedom of Information Act. -DB American Banker August 24, 2009 By Marissa Fajt For decades, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. disclosed all [...]

Federal judge dismantles Connecticut campaign finance law

A federal judge ruled Connecticut’s public finance law unconstitutional, saying that it put an unfair burden on minor party candidates in obtaining public financing for their campaigns. -DB Fresno Bee August 28, 2009 By John Christoffersen NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – A federal judge has ruled that Connecticut’s public campaign finance law, seen by some as [...]

California Supreme Court upholds SLAPP ruling in case against Fox News

The Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of a suit brought by day laborers finding that they were not defamed in a Fox News story. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise August 27, 2009 A Fourth District Court of Appeal ruling upholding the dismissal of a suit charging Fox News Network with defaming immigrant day laborers in a story about [...]

Legality in question: Publication of stolen Twitter employee’s e-mails

A legal expert says that in the case of TechCrunch’s publication of stolen Twitter documents, should the matter ever go to trial, it may come down to whether the court considers bloggers “press” and thereby under the protection by California’s shield law. -DB MediaShift Commentary August 25, 2009 By Jeffrey D. Neuburger In June of this [...]

Don’t ban anonymity urges one legal expert

While siding with Google against the blogger who defamed the model by calling her a “skank”, a First Amendment advocate argues that it is important to protect anonymity of some contemptible speakers to safeguard the freedom of others such as whistleblowers and dissenters in totalitarian regimes to remain anonymous. -DB Citizen Media Law Project Commentary August [...]

Blogger of venomous insults sues Google for outing her

Legal experts think that a fashion student’s suit against Google has little chance of success. She had anonymously called a model a “shank” and was subsequently identified by Google. -DB San Francisco Chronicle August 28, 2009 By James Temple The blogger who anonymously tarred a fashion model as a “skank” before being outed by Google Inc. [...]

Supreme Court justice allows unsealing of records of Catholic sex abuse suits

The Catholic Church is expected to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the constitutional issues concerning the order to release court records on 20 clergy sex abuse cases in Connecticut. -DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press August 27, 2009 By Rory Eastburg U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Tuesday refused a [...]

Homeland Security denies politics dictated stimulus spending on border checkpoints

A government agency refused to provide the priority list for spending on border checkpoints as questions mount about why so much money has been allocated to stations with less traffic. -DB The Brownsville Herald August 27, 2009 By Anabelle Garay and Eileen Sullivan DALLAS (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday that politics did [...]

Fillmore City Council admits to Brown Act violation

The Fillmore city mayor conceded to a Brown Act violation but said since there was no consequences from the violation, the matter was closed. -DB Ventura County Star August 27, 2009 By Mike Harris Responding to an accusation from Fillmore City Councilman Steve Conaway, Mayor Patti Walker has conceded that members of the council unintentionally violated [...]

Suit asks for records concerning warrantless searches of travelers’ laptops

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a Freedom of Information lawsuit in federal court to obtain records pertaining to the immigration and border policy of routinely searching traveler’s laptops. -DB Congress Daily August 26, 2009 The American Civil Liberties Union wants federal government records pertaining to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s policy of searching [...]

Mother-in-law jokes get comedian in legal stew

A comedian who traffics in mother-in-law jokes may be on the right side of the First Amendment, but that may be little comfort as her mother-in-law sues her for defamation. -DB Los Angeles Times August 25, 2009 By John Rogers LOS ANGELES (AP) – “Take my mother-in-law — please,” isn’t a joke you’re likely to [...]

Judge orders LaRouche PAC off grocery store fronts

A Los Angeles Judge granted a preliminary injunction against the LaRouche Political Action Committee who has been setting up outside grocery stores to solicit donations and pass out literature opposing the “Obama Nazi Healthplan.” -DB The National Law Journal August 26, 2009 By Amanda Bronstadl A Los Angeles judge has granted a preliminary injunction against a [...]

ACLU obtains document detailing CIA torture program

In response to an ACLU Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the government turned over documents describing the interrogation techniques used by the CIA as late as 2007. -DB American Civil Liberties Union Press Release August 24, 2009 NEW YORK – The government today handed over to the American Civil Liberties Union a detailed official description of [...]

SLAPP case: Firm brings more notoriety to itself by appealing suit

A management firm who lost a case against a griper defending himself refuses to let the matter die, appealing the case to the Ninth Circuit. -DB Techdirt Commentary August 24, 2009 By Michael Masnick from the bad-idea dept Remember that discussion a few months ago about how most lawyers apparently understood the Streisand Effect, and [...]

Blogger intends to sue Google over outing

After Google revealed the identity of an anonymous blogger, her lawyer promised to sue citing the First Amendment right to speak anonymously. -DB Wired August 24, 2009 By Kim Zetter An anonymous blogger unmasked by Google last week following a court order has vowed to sue the internet giant for violating her privacy. Rosemary Port, who [...]

Obama continues Bush procedures on warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens

The EFF legal director says the Obama administration has embraced the Bush policies on surveillance and more disturbingly the Bush principle that the executive branch is above the law. -DB ACS Blog Commentary August 17, 2009 By Cindy Cohn Both former NSA Director Michael Hayden and former Justice Department attorney John Yoo have taken to the [...]

Gilroy struggles with provisions of open government laws

Centering on a controversial raise for the city administrator, the Gilroy City Council is trying to balance the need for confidentiality in personnel matters and the public’s right to know. -DB The Gilroy Dispatch Aug 24, 2009 By Chris Bone Many councilmembers have renewed their interest in secrecy regarding closed sessions, in part because information about [...]

Federal agency withholds information about weed-killer in drinking water

The Environmental Protection Agency has failed to warn consumers that herbicides exceeding safety limits have been found in drinking water in four states. -DB Huffington Post Investigative Fund August 24, 2009 By Danielle Ivory One of the nation’s most widely-used herbicides has been found to exceed federal safety limits in drinking water in four states, [...]

When threats pass muster as ‘true threats’

The executive director of the First Amendment Center says that impolite, heated, intemperate and even vile remarks are protected under the First Amendment but there is no sure legal protection for threats that name specific persons and carry a reasonable chance of being enacted in an immediate way. -DB First Amendment Center Commentary August 23, 2009 [...]

ACLU loses challenge to surveillance law

A federal judge dismissed a challenge to a law allowing the government to examine without warrants the international e-mails and phone calls of U.S. citizens. -DB American Civil Liberties Union Press Release August 20, 2009 NEW YORK – A federal court today dismissed an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit challenging an unconstitutional government spying law. The [...]

NCAA loses: Court holds Florida State cheating records are public

In a case that has national implications, a state court has ruled that NCAA records of cheating affecting 10 different sports at Florida State University are, under state public record laws, matters of public record and must be released to the media. -DB FanHouse August 20, 2009 By Jim Henry The NCAA will need to re-examine [...]

Government officials use personal email and texting to avoid public access laws. Why not use technology to enhance accountability instead of to subvert it?

By PETER SCHEER—All public officials favor open government in principle. Who would dare say otherwise? In reality, however, they are in a perpetual search, guided by clever lawyers, for new ways to circumvent disclosure requirements–at best, because they view requests for records as a nuisance, and at worst, because they have something to hide (which [...]

Berkeley officials discourage petition for special election on downtown plan

Berkeley citizens are circulating petitions to bring the downtown development plan to a vote while city officials are mounting a vigorous campaign to keep the plan off the ballot. -DB San Francisco Chronicle August 20, 2009 By Matthai Kuruvila Berkeley may take great pride as a champion of free speech and civil rights, but an unusual [...]

Broadcom co-founder tries to keep appeal hearing secret

Accused of securities fraud, a co-founder of Broadcom Corp. wants to bar the public from his hearing before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. -DB The National Law Journal August 20, 2-009 By Amanda Bronstad Henry Samueli, the co-founder of Broadcom Corp., is fighting to keep the public out of a pending hearing before the 9th [...]

Social networking ban on convicted sex offenders deemed unconstitutional

A blogger for the Citizen Media Law Project says that the new Illinois law making it illegal for convicted six offenders to use social networking websites is probably unconstitutional and certainly unenforceable. -DB Citizen Media Law Project Commentary August 20, 2009 By Andrew Moshirnia The memory of pain can be one of the best painkillers. Anyone [...]

Reporters call for end to off-the-record public speeches

Reporters and national media outlets are asking the Obama administration to stop the practice of public officials speaking only off the record while giving public speeches. They say it is not practical in an era in which the speeches instantly appear in blogs and on Twitter regardless of the stipulations. -DB The Sunshine in Government [...]

Princeton opens online site to provide free court records

The Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton has started to provide free access including those oU.S. appellate, district and bankruptcy court records. -DB NextGov August 19, 2009 By Aliya Sternstein A group of academics have unveiled an online tool to make federal courts transparent by providing free public access to court records—and they are encouraging [...]

Lawyer of right wing blogger claims FBI paid client to make threats

The lawyer for a New Jersey hate blogger charged with threatening to kill judges and lawmakers said his client was paid by the FBI to make his online rants. -DB Wired August 19, 2009 By David Kravets A notorious New Jersey hate blogger charged in June with threatening to kill judges and lawmakers was secretly [...]

Opinions of federal judge erased From Lexis and Westlaw

In a court case involving Amtrak, a federal judge in Pennsylvania got Lexis and Westlaw to agree to remove eight vacated opinions from their database after the case was decided in a confidential settlement. -DB The Legal Intelligencer August 19, 2009 By Shannon P. Duffy Ordinarily, the decision to settle a case while an appeal is [...]

Obama administration making headway in transparency efforts

While its efforts have been criticized, the Obama administration has launched promising initiatives to bring accountability and transparency to government and continues to work on improvements. -DB OMB Watch Commentary August 18, 2009 At the close of President Obama’s first 200 days in office, the administration has demonstrated a willingness to experiment with new technologies and [...]

Public oversight needed for juvenile justice

The juvenile justice system has improved from a paternalistic system with little regard for the Consitutional rights of the children, but, writes journalist Kathleen Cullinan, the children could benefit from opening juvenile courts to public scrutiny. -DB The News Media & The Law Commentary Summer 2009 By Kathleen Cullinan Compared with the rest of the American [...]

Federal judge orders release of data from wolf program

Conservationists have won the right to see information about federal efforts to reintroduce the gray wolf to the Southwest. -DB First Amendment Center July 18, 2009 By The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Conservationists have won a battle with the federal government over information they say will help improve a troubled program aimed at returning North [...]

Centers for Disease Control set up website for tracking public health info

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have established a web set so that citizens can track and report environmental hazards and health problems. It will also provide information on asthma, cancer and certain air and water pollutants. -DB OMB Watch August 18, 2009 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently launched a website [...]

Landlord company sues East Palo Alto over alleged violations of state law

Alleging that East Palo Alto violated the state’s open government and environmental laws, Page Mill Properties is suing to set aside a rent stabilization law. -DB Palo Alto Daily News August 17, 2009 By Jessica Bernstein-Wax Attorneys for East Palo Alto’s biggest landlord are trying to get San Mateo County officials to take the city’s new [...]

Government owns up to 11 more deaths in immigration detention

The Department of Homeland Security admitted they undercounted by 11 the deaths of immigrants in detention. The total now stands at 104 deaths since 2003. -DB The Washington Independent August 17, 2009 By Daphne Eviatar Responding to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Department of Homeland Security today acknowledged 11 deaths [...]

Athiest bus ads stir up controversy in Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines city buses carried ads by the Iowa Atheists & Freethinkers prompting removal of the ads then their restoration as the city government debated their ad policies. -DB Federal News Radio August 14, 2009 By Michael J. Crumb DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A dispute about bus advertisements seeking to publicize atheist views has touched [...]

Court rules teacher can pursue suit over political speech

Ruling on a teacher’s claim that he was dismissed for criticizing the school administration, a federal judge said it is already established that public employees do not enjoy First Amendment protection while at work but that the teacher could pursue his suit against the school district on the basis of the teacher’s claim that he [...]

Federal government: New ‘sharing’ agency no guarantee to transparency

Secrecy News’ Steven Atergood says that the newly appointed Senior Director for Information Sharing Policy does not have a mandate for transparency. Rather, Aftergood asserts, “information sharing” does not include the public. -DB Secrecy News Federation of American Scientists Analysis August 17, 2009 By Steven Aftergood The Obama Administration is giving increased attention to the [...]

Open government group pushes for release of Defense contractor ratings

Hopeful that President Barack Obama’s early commitment to transparency is genuine, the FOIA Group, Inc. is asking the Defense Department to allow public access to a Defense Department database that rates contractors. -DB NextGov August 14, 2009 By Aliya Sternstein The Obama administration, committed to becoming the most transparent in history, upheld a Bush-era practice of [...]

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