A SEC lawyer, now running for Congress, disclosed protected information about whistleblower to his employer’s lawyer

The Security Exchange Commission’s commitment to protecting whistleblowers has been brought into question by a case in which a SEC lawyer handed over protected and nonpublic information to the whistleblower’s employer, JPMorgan Chase. -db Politics Daily January 28, 2010 By Michael Smallberg and Adam Zagorin George Demos is a Republican Congressional candidate from Eastern Long [...]

Courts and Congress avoid addressing legality of warrantless eavesdropping

A Wire Magazine commentary says that even after lawsuits have been filed alleging warrantless eavesdropping, the practice is continuing abetted by Congress and a passive court system. -db Wired Commentary January 29, 2010 By David Kravets The National Security Agency allegedly siphoned Americans’ communications without warrants from behind this door at an AT&T office in [...]

ACLU sounds warning on role of fusion centers in domestic spying

The American Civil Liberties Union warns that the 70 fusion centers set up to collect and share information after 9/11 are operating with little oversight, even book-marking law-abiding citizens for using “threatening words” one of which is “protest.” -db American Civil Liberties Union Opinion January 29, 2010 By Amanda Simon For years now, the ACLU [...]

Obama favors disclosing contacts between lobbyists with administration or Congress

The Electronic Frontier Foundation hails President Barack Obama’s statement in the State of the Union address about disclosing lobbyist contacts. The Obama administration has been fighting FOIA requests seeking identities of lobbyists working the Department of Justice and Director of National Intelligence. -db Electronic Frontier Foundation Commentary January 28, 2010 By Kurt Opsahl In yesterday’s State [...]

School punishes student for video posted in summer on Youtube

The Roseville Joint Union High School District banned a student from playing on the Granite Bay High School basketball team for posting on Youtube a parody video about hip hop music and the youth drug culture. -db Courthouse News Service January 29, 2010 By Tish Kraft AUBURN, Calif. (CN) – A dad says Roseville Joint [...]

Report says there is strong precedent for government support of newspapers

A report from the University of Southern California says that American newspapers have always relied on government subsidies, but over the last 40 years that support has shrunk. -db The New York Times January 28, 2010 By Richard Pérez-Peña American newspapers have relied on government subsidies since Washington’s day, but that support has dropped sharply [...]

Public happy with efforts to put government information online

A new survey showed the public satisfaction with federal Web sites has increased from 73.6 points in 2007 to 75.2 for the third quarter of 2009. -db Nextgov January 26, 2010 By Jill Aitoro Citizen satisfaction with federal Web sites increased significantly in 2009, indicating that efforts by the Obama administration to increase transparency in [...]

Obama administration balks at releasing statistics online

In accordance with new government directives on transparency, federal agencies sent the Office of Management and Budget nearly 300 data sets on Jan. 22, but the Obama administration has withheld a number of the sets. -db NextGov January 27, 2010 By Aliya Sternstein The Obama administration has declined to post, and in some cases has [...]

Federal court rules that newspaper owner’s First Amendment rights trump employee’s job rights

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Santa Barbara News-Press did not have to rehire employees fired for union activity to pressure the owner and publisher from controlling the editorial content of the newspaper. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise January 27, 2010 By Steven M. Ellis The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday declined [...]

Nevada student newspaper in First Amendment dispute

A student journalist’s coverage of controversy over an honor choir program prompts an attempt by the teachers union to block publication of the campus newspaper. – dr Las Vegas Review-Journal January 28, 2010 By Kristi Jourdan What began as an investigative article in a Northern Nevada high school newspaper has turned into a First Amendment [...]

Nonprofit vies for right to fund political ads without limits

A federal appeals court will take up the suit of SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission. The nonprofit SpeechNow.org is suing for the right to advocate for free speech and against free speech restriction in campaign reforms without having to set up a separate political action committee. -DB Institute for Justice Press Release January 26, 2010 [...]

Under Obama federal agencies still fighting record requests

The Washington Post reports that federal agencies are still balking at releasing records to the public, claiming that it would interfere with internal decision-making or compromise national security. In Obama’s first year, the number of Freedom of  Information Act lawsuits filed exceeds the number filed in each of Bush’s last two years. -DB The Washington [...]

Santa Barbara university student council suddenly closes meeting

The Associated Students Legislative Council at the University of California, Santa Barbara closed a part of their Wednesday night meeting without prior notice or disclosing before hand their reasons prompting complaints that the state’s open government laws had been violated. -DB Daily Nexus January 28, 2010 By Elliott Rosenfeld and Mackenzie Weinger The Associated Students Legislative [...]

Yuba City: Questions arise about possible open government violation in proposed raise for community college chancellor

The Yuba Community College District board may have violated California’s Brown Act which requires the board to hold discussions about salary increases in open session. -DB Daily Democrat Commentary January 28, 2010 By Erin Tracy A decision to approve a salary hike for the Yuba Community College District chancellor might be considered insult to injury for [...]

Ukiah: Supervisors consider appointing ad-hoc committee on retiree health insurance

The County Board of Supervisors is considering appointing an ad-hoc committee to consider ways to preserve health benefits for retirees but some supervisors think the issue is too important to discuss  behind closed doors. -DB The Ukiah Daily Journal January 27, 2010 By Tiffany Revelle Conflict about forming an ad-hoc committee to study available choices [...]

Open government laws seen as benefit rather than burden

An attorney and newly elected member of the Modesto Schools board sets out the benefits of complying with California’s open meeting laws including the value of hearing a wide range of views from other members of the public bodies and from the public itself. -DB Modesto Bee January 27, 2010 By Ruben Villalobos For more [...]

Pleasant Hill: Citizens allege open government violations in approval of drug rehab center

A citizens group has challenged the Pleasant Hill City Council after they approved a drug rehabilitation center this week, alleging that the city restricted public comment at a crucial Planning Commission meeting and provided improper notice of a subsequent hearing. -DB Contra Costa Times January 26, 2010 By Lisa P. White PLEASANT HILL, Calif. — [...]

Senate rejects proposal for commission of inquiry on torture

Senator Patrick Leahy was unable to obtain the bipartisan consensus he said was essential to conduct a senate investigation of Bush administration conduct on terrorism including detention, rendition and interrogation. -DB Secrecy News Federation of American Scientists Commentary January 26, 2010 By Steven Aftergood Last year the Senate Judiciary Committee considered a proposal by Senator [...]

Call for private industry to join U.S. government to promote Internet Freedom

EFF International Outreach Coordinator Danny O’Brien says Hillary Clinton’s speech on Internet Freedom was encouraging but that both governments and global companies have to redouble their efforts to establish world-wide standards for privacy and free expression. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Commentary January 25, 2010 By Danny O-Brien Secretary Clinton’s speech last week on Internet Freedom [...]

State appeals court reverses conviction for Internet threat

In dismissing a conviction of a former college student for online threats to kill children, the Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed with the defense that the threat was not directed at any individual and that the offense did not correspond to the defendant’s actual conduct. -DB Metropolitan News-Enterprise January 26, 2010 By Steven M. [...]

Blogger charges that U.S. government enabled Chinese hackers in Google case

National security technology blogger Bruce Schneier wrote recently that as part of their domestic spying campaign, the United States required internet providers to set up avenues for government surveillance used recently by some parties in China to breach the privacy of Google customers. -DB Citizen Media Law Project Opinion January 26, 2010 By Arthur Bright [...]

Apple Tablet may generate revenue for print media

The new Apple Tablet may allow for a way for the print media to charge for their content and make profits in the digital age. Their hope rests on how Steven Jobs, who backs the free press as a cornerstone of democracy, sets pricing. -DB The New York Times January 26, 2010 By Brad Stone [...]

Supreme Court to decide if petition-signers can remain anonymous

The United States has a long tradition of allowing anonymous speech in the political arena, but there are also serious concerns about transparency and accountability. The Supreme Court must decide whether Washington state officials can release names on a petition seeking a referendum on repealing the state’s domestic-partnership rights. -DB First Amendment Center Commentary January [...]

Rights organization sues to obtain ethics report on Bush lawyers who wrote ‘torture memo’

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit to force the Department of Justice to release to the public a report that explores possible ethics violations by the lawyers who wrote the Bush administration’s “torture memos.” -DB American Civil Liberties Union Press Release January 22, 2010 NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a [...]

Nonprofit news organization formed in San Francisco will serve New York Times

The Bay Area News Project will produce stories for the Bay Area edition of the New York Times some time after the middle of 2010, but its primary outlet for news will be its Web site. -DB The New York Times January 22, 2010 By Richard Pérez-Peña A new nonprofit news organization in the San [...]

President warns about effects of Supreme Court decision on elections

President Barack Obama said with unlimited money from special interests now legal, it gives them the power to spend millions on getting rid of legislators who don’t vote their way. -DB Sunlight Foundation January 24, 2010 By Daniel Schuman President Obama’s weekly address explained on his administration’s efforts to combat influence peddling, and the steps [...]

Securities and Exchange Commission hides information about AIG bailout

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission conspired with American International Group to keep secret the details of the company’s bailout. -DB Reuters January 14, 2010 By Matthew Goldstein NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. securities regulators originally treated the New York Federal Reserve’s bid to keep secret many of the details of the American International Group [...]

Federal judge rules ‘right to party’ not in Constitution

A federal judge upheld a law allowing police in a Rhode Island beach town to put orange stickers on home hosting raucous parties, ruling the the First Amendment did not protect wild and crazy events. -DB First Amendment Center January 25, 2010 By Eric Tucker PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)— A law allowing police in a Rhode [...]

Libel suit based on tweet dismissed

A Illinois state court dismissed a defamation suit against a tenant who complained by tweet to 20 of her friends that her apartment was moldy. The judge ruled that the tweet was too vague to qualify as libel. -DB Citizen Media Law Project Commentary January 21, 2010 By Sam Bayard Andrew Wang of Chicago Breaking [...]

Obama and transparency: In the midst of major gains, some managers resist open government initiatives

For a multitude of reasons, not every official is aggressively embracing President Barack Obama’s open government directives. -DB NextGov Commentary January 21, 2010 By Aliya Sternstein When he took office, President Obama said he wanted agencies to leverage new technologies to open government. One year after the president announced an initiative to open the government, [...]

Chinese official criticizes Clinton for attacking China’s Internet policies

It didn’t take long for China to vehemently condemn Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech on China’s restrictions on the Internet. The official said in a post on the Internet that the speech would damage China-U.S. relations. -DB Congress Daily January 22, 2010 By Juliana Gruenwald A Chinese official Friday blasted Secretary of State Hillary [...]

Supreme Court decision on access to jury selection already derails one federal trial

One day after the Supreme court ruled that the public must be allowed into court during jury selection, a federal judge in Dallas declared a mistrial in a case because the jury was selected in a closed session. -DB Politico January 20, 2010 By Josh Gerstein The Supreme Court gets results. Just yesterday morning, the [...]

Records show FBI illegally obtained telephone call records

The FBI trampled the civil liberties of United States citizens by gathering up over 2,000 phone records between 2002 and 2006 by faking terrorism emergencies or simply strong-arming phone companies. -DB The Washington Post January 19, 2010 By John Solomon and Carrie Johnson The FBI illegally collected more than 2,000 U.S. telephone call records between [...]

Justices say decision on campaign finance influenced by concerns for freedom for media

In making their recent decision to dismantle key provisions of the campaign finance law, Justice Anthony Kennedy writing the majority opinion, said that even though media are now exempt from restrictions on their expression, if the justices ruled to restrict the free speech of corporations, Congress could take that ruling and enact laws to restrict the media [...]

California’s central valley: Newspaper advises citizens on effective participation in local government

The Modesto Bee has published an editorial advising their readers of their rights to access meetings under the state’s open government law and how to be effective in making their voice heard. -DB The Modesto Bee Editorial January 24, 2010 A prevailing theme on this page is that the public’s business needs to be done [...]

Big Brother is alive: Chinese government to monitor text messages for ‘unhealthy content’

The Chinese government continues its campaign to bring the the cyber world under its control by announcing that it will check cell phone messages and punish users for “unhealthy content”. -DB The New York Times January 20, 2010 By Sharon LaFraniere BEIJING — As the Chinese government expands what it calls a campaign against pornography, [...]

Campaign finance: Transparency needed more than ever as Supreme Court unleashes special interest money

The executive director of the Sunlight Foundation says that the Supreme Court’s decision striking down key provisions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law will unleash a flood of money in the political arena making it even more likely money will influence executive and legislative decisions. -DB Sunlight Foundation Opinion January 21, 2010 By Ellen Miller [...]

Government worker fired for expressing political views loses round in court

An analyst working for the Library of Congress lost a first round in court when the judge refused to issue an order restoring the man to his job. The judge said however that his case was well-founded and that he was likely to prevail. -DB Politico January 20, 2010 A Congressional Research Service analyst who [...]

Secretary of State makes major address declaring internet freedom a basic human right

Hillary Clinton warned that a new information curtain is descending across the world, electronic barriers comprised of censorship and surveillance. -DB Wired Commentary January 21, 2010 By Nathan Hodge It was almost too easy. In a major speech today on net freedom, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reached back to Winston Churchill — and to [...]

Foundation questions Obama administration openness about legal procedures for obtaining phone records

A Electronic Freedom Foundation senior attorney says a recent government report posits a new legal theory affirming the FBI’s right to obtain phone records without going through a legal process but does not provide the basis for the theory or even the statutory section number the FBI uses. -DB Electronic Freedom Foundation Commentary January 21, [...]

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