Federal court decision lightens load of Garcetti v. Caballos

A former probationary  officer, Jason M. Jackler,  fired for refusing to recant his complaint of an excessive force complaint against a police officer, was vindicated in federal court, bringing some sanity to the Garcetti v. Caballos Supreme Court decision. Garcetti established a rule stripping public employees of their free speech rights if they are speaking [...]

Florida judge in Casey Anthony trial orders names of jurors be kept secret until late October

The judge who presided over the trial of Casey Anthony, the Florida woman acquitted of murdering her two-tear-old daughter, blasted the media while ordering that the names of jurors be kept from the media until Oct. 25. Writing for Reuters, Barbara Liston paraphrased the judge, Belvin Perry, “Perry lamented what he said was the blurring [...]

Boston man gains right to challenge ban on photographing police

A man who had photographed a police officer in public was denied a restraining order against the police but could proceed with his lawsuit. Demanding that he destroy the photos, a police officer chased him after she saw him take pictures of a construction scene and inadvertently include the officer. A federal judge said the man had [...]

China: Microbloggers defy censorship in relaying facts of high-speed train crash

Chinese censors are failing to contain the flood of online messages about the wreck of a high-speed train outside Wenzhou that killed 40 people and injured 191. Messages total 26 million. Citizens began the posts right after the accident and in many instances foiled the manipulations of government officials. In Wenzhou, officials ordered lawyers not to [...]

Federal appeals court finds suppression of speech in rules on protests at abortion clinics

A federal appeals court ordered the city of Oakland to change its policy designed to shield women from anti-abortion protesters at abortion clinics. The court said that at present requiring anti-abortion counselors to maintain distance while allowing pro-abortion escorts to shield the women was not even handed and violated the free speech rights of the [...]

First Amendment: Federal appeals court blocks Texas disclosure rules for charitable solicitations

A Texas federal appeals court struck down part of a Texas law that requires for-profit companies making solicitations for charitable causes to disclose how they disburse the donations. Citing Supreme Court rulings, the court ruled that the fee-arrangement disclosure as applied to collection bins violated the First Amendment. The court reasoned that the solicitations involved [...]

Judge denies journalist information on Kentucky mining diaster

An editor for Mine Safety and Health News failed to obtain a court order for information about a federal investigation into the question of whether mine safety officials covered up a coal slurry spill in Kentucky in 2000. Three hundred gallons of the toxic waste, 25 times the size of the Exxon Vaaldez oil spill, [...]

A&A: Is all information about public employment tests exempt?

Q: I would like to examine copies of two recent examinations that I have taken for jobs at BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). I request my score, value for each question, who wrote the exam, who was the subject matter expert, and who graded the exam. I think the California Public Record Act states that [...]

A&A: What are the rules rescheduling a regular board meeting?

Q: Can a board president or staff member change a regular board meeting without board approval? A: The Brown Act provides that “[e]ach legislative body of a local agency, except for advisory committees or standing committees, shall provide, by ordinance, resolution, bylaws, or by whatever other rule is required for the conduct of business by [...]

ACLU calls for limits to government secrecy practices

In a report released on July 28, the American Civil Liberties Union says that since 9/11, the government has created secret agencies, committees, court and laws to keep their activities from public scrutiny. Michael German, ACLU national security policy counsel and former FBI agent warns of the damage too much secrecy can do, “By undermining [...]

Open government: Senators propose bill on secret expansion of Patriot Act powers

A bill proposed by Senators Roy Wyden and Mark Udall would require the U.S. intelligence chief to admit to interpreting the Patriot Act to give the government massive domestic surveillance powers not granted by Congress. In a letter last week to Wyden and Udall, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper admitted to the secret legal [...]

Baptist deacon loses bid to go by pseudonym in trial over abusing teen-agers

A U.S. magistrate judge ruled that a ex-Baptist deacon accused of sexually abusing one of his female parishioners could not go by a psuedonym during his trial. The judge said the deacon’s desire to avoid embarrassing revelations did not outweigh the public’s right to know, “”Allegations of sexual assault of a minor is [sic] of [...]

Georgia appeals court clears Atlanta newspaper of libeling Richard Jewell in Olympics bombing coverage

The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that The Atlanta Journal-Constitution did not libel Richard Jewell, the security guard, who notified authorities about an anonymous call warning of an impending bomb blast that killed two and injured 100 some people. Jewell’s prompt action resulted in an evacuation that saved lives. The newspaper reported that the FBI [...]

California: Menifee city council drops ‘secret ballot’ in selecting new council member

After opinions that a secret ballot could not be used in appointing a new member to the Menifee City Council, the council revised the plan. Under the new plan, council members will give each candidate a ranking which will be displayed to the public. The rankings will be tabulated to select the new member. The [...]

California: Publisher says boycott of St. Helena Star retaliation for criticism of council

Doug Ernst, the publisher of the St. Helena Star says an e-mail circulating in town calling for a boycott of his newspaper is in response to a news story and an opinion column written in the aftermath of a district attorney  report that found the city council had committed five violations of the Brown Act, [...]

California: Critics claim San Luis Obispo City Council violating open meeting law

Critics in the San Luis Obispo community are alleging that the city council is regularly committing open meeting violations including sending an e-mail to fellow council members to generate support for an issue before the issue was listed on an agenda. When the president of the police officer’s association asked that the e-mail be made [...]

A&A: Access to City Manager’s compensation denied

Q: I am a  director for the Public Utility District trying to access the General Manager’s compensation information.  Another director asked for W-2s with confidential information blacked out. And was told via email that they do not have to provide them. What information am I entitled to and how to I ask for it? The [...]

A&A:High school impeaches student president over Facebook rant

Q: My daughter was featured on the top most headline of the local newspaper this last Saturday. She has been stripped of her ELECTED position as President of her High School because of an off-hand comment she made on a chat on Facebook. We are looking to anyone that can help us and a lawyer [...]

ABC opts out of paying for television interviews

ABC News decided to end the practice of paying for high-profile interviews to preserve their credibility and integrity. The decision came  after the network was widely criticized for giving Casey Anthony a huge payday for an appearance on the network. ABC spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said, “We can book just about anyone based on the strength [...]

Pittsburgh Steeler sues for right to make controversial statements on Twitter

A Pittsburgh Steeler football player Rashard Mendenhall  filed a $1 million freedom of speech lawsuit against Hanes underwear which dropped his endorsement contract in reaction to his controversial comments on Twitter. One of the Tweets in dispute was his objection to people celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden. “What kind of person celebrates death? [...]

Debt ceiling talks conducted behind closed doors

Open government is taking a hit during the Congressional scrimmage over laws to curtail the federal deficit, writes Jonathan Allen in Politico. The President  and House and Senate leadership are conducting negotiations behind closed doors with few details leaked to the public or the Congress. -db From a commentary in Politico, July 26, 2011, by Jonathan [...]

New Jersey: ACLU forces issue in obtaining record of back room king-making

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie invoked the executive privilege exception in denying the requests of Gawker reporter John Cook to correspondence, calendar entries and phone logs on a dinner with Fox News President Roger Ailes who encouraged Christie to run for president. Chistie eventually submitted a calendar entry about the dinner after the American Civil [...]

A&A: School district denies request for annual audit

Q: The local school district  responded to my request for copies of the proposals submitted for annual bond performance audits as follows, ”The District is unable to produce the requested information until after the contract has been awarded.”  What is your opinion? A: Unfortunately, there is a California Supreme Court decision in which the court [...]

A&A: Are worker’s comp claims public documents?

Q: Are worker’s comp claims public documents, and, if so, can I file the standard public records’ request with the local public institution involved? A: California’s Labor Code provides that “[e]xcept as expressly permitted [elsewhere in the statute], a person or public or private entity not a party to a claim for workers’ compensation benefits [...]

Europe’s high court allow Cyprus to punish for discriminatory content

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Cypriot broadcasting authority actions to protect children and consumers by censoring racial and gender discrimination violated no human rights. “Infractions included undisclosed product placement, lack of objectivity in news reports, disrespecting victims of crime, and the airing material unsuitable for children and youth. Sigma was also penalized [...]

D.C: Federal judge reinstates lawsuit over limits placed on posting political messages

A federal judge revived a lawsuit brought by two civil rights groups against a Washington, D.C. law placing a 60-day limit on signs with political messages posted on lampposts. The Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation and the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition filed the original suit in 2007 which was dismissed [...]

New York: Group seeks to overturn same-sex marriage law with open meetings suit

New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms has filed suit in New York claiming the state’s Open Meetings Law was violated in passing the law giving gays the right to marry. Among other things the group claims the Republicans met in secret to discuss the law. The challenge is not expected to succeed at least on one [...]

Federal court dismisses inmate’s defamation suit after television show casts him as gang member

A federal appeals court in Denver dismissed a defamation lawsuit against A&E Television Networks for referring to an inmate as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang when he had only helped the gang. He subsequently received death threats from other prison gangs. The court found the A&E program defamatory but substantially true so protected [...]

Poll: Voters report little respect for media

A poll conducted for The Hill Poll found that most voters think the media is biased and unethical. The results were revealed at a time when one of the world’s most powerful media company, News International, is under fire in Great Britain for phone-hacking. Sixty-eight percent of voters think the media biased, and 57 percent [...]

State senator honors recently deceased open government advocate

Senator Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, is amending his most recent open government bill to name it “The Richard McKee Transparency Act of 2011.” McKee was co-founder of Californians Aware, a powerful open government nonprofit. Senate Bill 8 is designed to bring transparency to the activities of foundations supporting state universities and colleges. -db From the [...]

FBI tries to block book by whistleblower

A flounder of a national whistleblowers group has sued the FBI for preventing her from publishing a book though she claims the book contains no classified information. Sibel D. Edmonds had worked for the FBI after 9/11 as a contractor rather than an employee and said that many of her reports about misconduct of co-workers [...]

Missouri requires report of allegations of educators’ sexual misconduct to other school districts

Missouri is the first state to require mandatory reporting by school districts of substantiated alleged sexual misconduct by educators. Heretofore a code of silence allowed sexual predators to move to another district. A failure to report the misconduct when asked for references would make the district liable for damages if the educator committed any sexual [...]

Federal court reinstates suit against police department for free speech violation

A federal appeals court said a former Middletown, New York  police officer could sue his police department over his firing after  the department allegedly asked him to lie about an excessive force claim against a fellow officer. A lower court had ruled that the officer had no standing to sue since his speech was part [...]

Federal appeals court opens New York transit authority court proceedings

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the public had the right to sit in on New york City transit Authority adjudicatory proceedings. Opening the proceedings could expose graffiti artists and fare-skippers to the glare of publicity. The court wrote, “the government cannot simply dress up a criminal trial in the guise of [...]

Activist group plans to join with media to release e-mails hacked from Murdoch’s News International

The activist collective LulzSec announced it will join with as yet unnamed media outlets to release e-mails obtained through a cyber attack on News International, the Rupert Murdoch company. Murdoch is struggling to contain the phone-hacking scandal that threatens his empire. Writing in The Register, John Leyden is unsure about who would cooperate with LulzSec, [...]

Illinois: Feds back university in records dispute

The Justice Department and higher education organizations filed briefs in federal court backing the University of Illinois in its refusal to release student records. The Chicago Tribune is seeking the records of students as part of a series of stories about alleged favoritism shown to some applicants to the university. The Justice Department noted that [...]

Press under fire as Murdoch tries to play down scandal

Claims that News Corps. phone-hacking scandal has been blown to unfair proportions by opponents with a “commercial or political agenda” do not stand up given the public record of criminal activity writes Ryan Chittum for the Columbia Journalism Review. It’s true that rival newspapers in UK are eager to air out News Corporation’s dirty drawers, [...]

Migraine statement: Reporter treated roughly by candidate’s staff

Two aides for Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann roughed up ABC investigative reporter Brian Ross when he approached her car to ask followup questions after her statement explaining her migraines. Michael Crowley of Time Magazine, says the incident raises questions about Bachmann’s readiness for the pressure, “The more pertinent question may have to do with [...]

California: Alleged Santa Ana open meeting violation

The Santa Ana City Council failed to comply with the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law when they did not allow the public to comment on issues disclose in a closed door meeting on July 18. They also changed the location of the closed door meeting without notifying the public. -db From a commentary in [...]

Associated Press orders link back to source of scoop

Associated Press issued a directive to editors to link back to the original any time they pick up a story from a local source. The change will save AP time in rewriting and honor the source of the scoop. For example, when the Boston Globe ran a story about TV producers doctoring the July 4th fireworks [...]

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