Digital strip-search: Case of lost iPhone prototype shows the danger of using search warrant to seize journalists’ information

BY PETER SCHEER—Search warrants have always been a blunt instrument for finding evidence of crime. Think of television cop shows from the 70s and 80s: A police search of an apartment for drugs was, de facto, a license to ransack all closets, cabinets and dressers. A warrant to seize a letter or other specific document [...]

Attorney General subpoenas New York Times reporter over book on C.I.A.

A lawyer for New York Times reporter James Risen says he will honor his commitment to keep his sources confidential in resisting a subpoena to provide documents about his 2006 book about the Central Intelligency Agency.  -db The New York Times April 28 2010 By Charlie Savage WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Obama administration is seeking [...]

Iraq war: Federal transparency lacking without muscle behind Freedom of Information Act

Frank Smyth, the Journalism Security Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, argues that Obama’s promises for greater transparency are proving empty with the military failing to provide access to information about the killing of civilians and journalists in Iraq. -db Committee to Protect Journalists Commentary April 26, 2010 By Frank Smyth WASHINGTON, D.C. – [...]

Electronic Frontier Foundation says Gizmodo editor protected by California law and First Amendment

The Civil Liberties Director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation says regardless of suspicions that Gizmodo editor Jason Chen was in possession of a stolen iPhone, under the California shield law and the federal Privacy Protection Act, the police search of his home and seizure of his computers was illegal. -db Electronic Frontier Foundation Legal Analysis [...]

Federal court upholds right of New Jersey student to wear anti-abortion armband

A federal district court in New Jersey ruled that there was no disruption to school activities when a then ninth grade student wore an armband and distributed fliers expressing her anti-abortion views. -db First Amendment Center April 28, 2010 By David L. Hudson Jr. A federal district court in New Jersey has ruled that Bridgeton [...]

Free speech: Federal judge challenges prosecution to prove Michigan militia did more than just talk

A federal district judge said that federal prosecutors must show that the Michigan militiamen arrested for “seditious conspiracy” were about to launch an attack on government targets. -db Deroit Free Press April 29, 2010 By Ben Schmitt Federal prosecutors today argued in a court document that their office has met the threshold for the detention [...]

News organizations want open hearings over West Virginia mine deaths

Eight news organizations and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has asked the Mine Safety and Health Administration to conduct open hearings about the mne disaster that killed 25 miners in early this month. -db Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Press Release April 27, 2010 The Reporters Committee for Freedom of [...]

Same-sex marriage referendum: Supreme Court justices voice skepticism about keeping signatures private

In hearing arguments about keeping referendum signatures private in a referendum to repeal Washington’s domestic partnership law, several justices appeared unsympathetic to arguments of the attorney opposing making the signatures public. -db Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press April 28, 2010 By Mara Zimmerman The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared skeptical of the [...]

Open government advocate sues Manhattan Beach for open government violation

A vice president of Californians Aware has filed a lawsuit against the Manhattan Beach City Council  for failing to property inform the public of its intent to make a settlement agreement with its former city manager that included a significant severance package. -db The Beach Reporter April 28, 2010 By Carley Dryden A longtime activist [...]

South coast: Solvang looks for way to avoid open meeting law

The Solvang City Council doesn’t want to burden citizens with the paperwork required if the economic-development committee is governed by the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, so is considering forming the committee with only two council members. -db Santa Ynez Valley News April 28, 2010 By Dave Bemis The Solvang City Council hit a [...]

Central Valley: Firing of Patterson city manager may have happened without proper public notice

The Patterson City Council posted a closed session as “City Manager Evaluation” but ended up firing him, raising the question of whether the session was conducted in compliance with California’s public meeting law. -db Patterson Irrigator Apr 28, 2010 By Amanda Matthews The Patterson City Council might have violated the Ralph M. Brown Act, a [...]

Dan Gillmor: NYTimes turns blind eye to IPad App bans?

Does the NYTimes care that Apple bans Apps due to content? Dan Gillmor, FAC board member and  director of the Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University, questions the nature of the two media giants’ relationship, but as he writes in his  Mediactive blog,  “I’ve received, after 11 days since first asking, [...]

Free speech: University of Wisconsin reverses decision to close down panel of antiwar speakers

Citing procedural and security issues, the University of Wisconsin shut down a panel of speakers but reversed itself after conferring with attorneys. -db FIRE Commentary April 26, 2010 By Adam Kissel After cancelling a panel of antiwar speakers last Friday, University of Wisconsin – Madison (UW) has reversed its decision, and the event will proceed [...]

Wyoming: Judge orders university to allow former radical to speak

A federal judge agreed with Bill Ayers, formerly a leader of the radical Weather Underground, that the University of Wyoming had violated his free speech rights when they refused to allow him to speak on campus. Ayers is now an education professor. -db National Public Radio April 28, 2010 By Frank James When last we checked, [...]

Federal prosecutors complain that judge is blocking criminal probe of school webcam spying

A federal district judge has ordered that evidence be restricted to those connected to a civil lawsuit charging invasion of privacy when a school district spied on students using school-issued webcams. Federal prosecutors has asked the judge to modify the order so they can conduct a criminal investigation of the district. -db Wired April 26, [...]

Police action in invading editor’s house in Gizmodo iPhone case said in conflict with California law

A director at the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard says that in seizing a Gizmodo editor’s computers, the police most likely violated the state’s shield law.-db Citizen Media Law Project Commentary April 26, 2010 By Sam Bayard Gizmodo announced this afternoon that California police seized computers and servers from the home of its reporter/editor [...]

Lassen County: Charter school called to task denied request to keep records private

The Westwood Unified School district has demanded that Westwood Charter School take immediate steps to correct alleged violations of California law and to provide an extensive list of documents concerning management, the budget, personnel, and student progress. -db Lassen County Times April 27, 2010 Westwood Charter School must provide all requested documents, take steps to [...]

A&A: Free speech “cornered” in downtown park

Q: When I led a petition drive against a school board, I wanted to set up in the downtown park.  I was told by the downtown workers that I had to stand in a corner of the park away from the public. It has been a while since this but it is still going on. [...]

Bureau of Prisons accedes to court ruling allowing federal inmates to work as reporters

Three years after a federal appeals court ruling, the Bureau of Prisons has allowed federal inmates to report from prison and publish articles under a byline. -db Courthouse News Service April 26, 2010 By Travis Sanford WASHINGTON, D.C. (CN) – Three years after the 10th Circuit struck down Bureau of Prisons regulations prohibiting federal inmates [...]

A&A: Can a retail store deny you the right to petition their customers?

Q: I was petitioning at a Target store and was asked to leave. I went to the police department and was told that I have a right to be there, but they can tell me when to set up. I then went back, and Target security said they would call police. The police who came [...]

Gawker lawyers try to invoke shield law in police seizure of computers at editor’s house

The furor continues over tech blog Gizmodo’s acquisition of a next-generation iPhone which it bought from someone who found it in a bar in Redwood City. To find out how Gizmodo got the iPhone, police seized the computers of an editor for Gawker, Gizmodo’s parent company. Gawker hired a First Amendment lawyer to fight the [...]

Santa Ana: Open meeting expert raises questions about arbitrary enforcement of public testimony

Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez cut off speakers at a public meeting who specifically criticized council members raising questions about whether that conduct violated the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law. General Counsel Terry Franke of Californians Aware said that a federal judge ruled that California law was intended to protect robust expression [...]

Legislators introduce bill to soften impact of recent Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited corporate campaign spending

House members have introduced a bill that would force disclosure of corporate expenditures on elections and ban foreign companies, federal contractors and bailout beneficiaries from spending on political campaigns.-db The Huffington Post April 20 2010 By Arthur Delaney Democrats hoping to blunt the impact of a recent Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited corporate spending on [...]

Washington jury finds for high school newspaper in privacy case over oral sex practices

A jury ruled 10-2 that there was a degree of newsworthiness in a news story on oral sex practices in a high school so that there was no violation of students’ privacy. -db Student Press Law Center April 22, 2010 By Katie Maloney WASHINGTON — A Pierce County jury found in favor of the Puyallup [...]

Censorship: Apple’s muddy policies on apps confusing to those creating content

A commentary in Wired argues that Apple needs to clarify its policy on content allowed in the App Store as serious free speech issues emerge. -db Wired Commentary April 26, 2010 By Brian X. Chen The iTunes App Store is nearly two years old, and Apple still has not published a clear set of guidelines [...]

California district court rules medical board correctly published information on doctor’s disciplinary action

A former doctor lost his lawsuit against the Medical Board of California for publishing information about his case after he agreed to surrender his license to practice medicine. The district Court of Appeal ruled that the board complied with California law in releasing information about a malpractice judgment against him in Orange County and the [...]

Supreme Court to consider California law barring sales of violent video games to minors

After the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court found California’s law banning the sale of violent video games to minors a violation of the First Amendment, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court who agreed to hear the case in the next session beginning in October. State Senator Leland Yee, know for defending the First [...]

California: Manager for nun’s infirmary sues after fired for whistle blowing

A manager for the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Midwest Community claims she was fired for reporting that a nun who refused to supply her nursing license allegedly administrated morphine on her own authority effectively euthanizing patients. -db Courthouse News Service April 26, 2010 By Maria Dinzeo SACRAMENTO (CN) – A manager claims the Sisters of [...]

California: Journalist arrested for attempting to videotape public meeting on marine life protection

A Fish and Game warden arrested a journalist for videotaping a meeting of a state agency created to protect the ocean from pollution and development.  -db North Coast April 25, 2010 By John Lewallen Independent video journalist David Gurney has a powerful sense of duty: to create a video record of the Marine Life Protection [...]

Yolo County: Request made for full disclosure of details of shooting incident

A watchdog group has requested that the District Attorney release to the public the full report on their investigation in the case of the shooting of Luis Gutierrez. The group specifically wants to know if a sheriff deputy put a gun to a nine-year-old girl’s head during the incident. -db Yolo Judicial Watch Commentary April [...]

L.A. City Council watchdog alleges electricity rates boosted without legal notice

A Los Angeles citizen has claimed that the city council passed electricity rate hikes without 72 hours notice required under the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law. -db LA Weekly April 23, 2010 By Dennis Romero ​Longtime City Council gadfly Joyce Dillard has sent letters to council president Eric Garcetti and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich [...]

Federal ruling in Ohio on sexually explicit material hailed as free speech victory

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression found much to like in a federal appeals court ruling that an Ohio statue providing for criminal penalties for providing non-obscene and sexually explicit mater to minors could not be applies to traffic on websites, in chatrooms and through e-mail listervs and mailing lists. -db Authorlink News April [...]

Group challenges federal ban of photography outside federal buildings

Contending that a ban on photos outside a courthouse was unconstitutional, the New York Civi Liberties Union is suing the U.S. government. -db The New York Times April 22, 2010 By Larry Neumeister NEW YORK (AP) — A civil rights group accused the U.S. government of harassing law-abiding photographers outside a courthouse, saying in a [...]

Free speech: New efforts to pass bill on animal cruelty videos

A California congressman is introducing a new bill on animal cruelty videos narrowing the focus after the Supreme Court found the 1999 law he wrote violated the First Amendment. -db Los Angeles Times April 21, 2010 By Richard Simon WASHINGTON, D.C. – When the Supreme Court struck down, on free-speech grounds, a law making it [...]

Marin news staff wins Freedom of Information award in CNPA contest

A team of journalists on the staff of Marin’s Independent Journal won first place for Freedom of Information reporting in the 2009 California Newsaper Publisher Association contest. The staff members won for their work in getting the county to release payroll details that shed light on budget problems. -db Marin Independent Journal April 20, 2010 [...]

Logan Symposium reflects optimism about future of journalism

A veteran journalist thinks that real journalism has a chance with the emergence of non-profit news organizations the likes of ProPublica and Bay Citizen along with operations like WikiLeaks. -db MediaShift Commentary April 20, 2010 By Chris O’Brien Over the past two days, I had the pleasure of attending the 4th Annual Reva and David [...]

Adobe criticizes Apples on open government

After criticism last year that it produced products unfriendly to open government, Adobe has attacked Apple for blocking programs for sharing government information. -db NextGov April 21, 2010 By Aliya Sternstein Adobe Systems Inc., which was criticized last year for developing products that make it difficult to extract federal data, unleashed a salvo against Apple [...]

Federal court decision on alcohol ads in college newspapers criticized

An attorney with extensive experience in free press litigation criticizes the federal appeals court decision to uphold rules prohibiting college newspapers in Virginia from running alcohol ads. He argues that in making the decision, the court  failed to adequately consider years of precedents that should have yielded a different outcome. -db First Amendment Center Opinion [...]

Online Hitler parodies suffer censorship

Constantin Film has used the Content I.D. filter provided by YouTube to remove the Hitler parodies regardless of whether they constitute “fair use.” -db Electronic Frontier Foundation Commentary April 20, 2010 By Corynne McSherry One the most enduring (and consistently entertaining) Internet memes of the past few years has been remixes of the bunker scene [...]

Free student press: Case goes to jury on parents’ claim students harmed by quotes on sexual histories

A case heard in a Washington state court may hinge on whether school officials and teachers should exercise more control over the content of student newspapers. Washington law discourages authorities from interfering with the lawful content in student newspapers. -db Student Press Law Center April 21, 2010 By Mike Hiestand WASHINGTON — “This case is [...]

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