Opinion: Complicated student speech case not ideal for U.S. Supreme Court

A columnist for Justia argues that the U.S. Supreme Court should not take the case of Kara Kowalski suing her high school for suspending her for the mean comments she made at home about a fellow student on MySpace. The columnist notes that Kowalski speech involved the bullying of another student so that if the [...]

ACLU publishes article outlining rights of photographers

The American Civil Liberties Union outlines the rights of photographers to help them resist attempts of law enforcement to prevent them from taking photos in public places. -db From a commentary for the American Civil Liberties Union, October 31, 2011. Full story

‘Overbroad doctrine’ upheld in Washington state ruling on car horns

The Washington Supreme Court struck down a county noise ordinance forbidding honking car horns for purposes other than public safety. The Court ruled that the ordiance was overbroad in limiting legitimate expression. The decision came in a case in which a woman was arrested for honking her horn in front of a house of a [...]

Online posting: Student speech subject to greater regulation after Supreme Court refuses to hear case

The U.S. Supreme Court left standing a lower court ruling supporting the punishment of a high school student for criticizing a decision by school officials in a vulgar online posting. By ruling not to hear the case, the Court sidestepped an opportunity to establish guidelines for regulation of student speech in social media forums. -db [...]

ACLU suing Los Angeles sheriff for limiting photography in public places

The American Civil Liberties Union is invoking the First Amendment in suing the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for labeling photography in key public places as “suspicious activity.” In three separate incidents, sheriff deputies detained photographers, at a Los Angeles Metro, industrial buildings, and the Long Beach courthouse. -db From The Reporters Committee for Freedom of [...]

Bloggers advocating democratic reform suffer oppression

Despite the promise of the Arab Spring, bloggers world-wide are seen as threats to public order and  arrested and imprisoned for speaking out for democratic reform. Bloggers are in danger in many countries including Syria, Egypt, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. -db From a commentary by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, October 27, 2011, by [...]

U.S. diplomat suspended for publishing book criticizing Iraq war policy

The Obama administration suspended Foreign Services Officer Peter Van Buren for his book critical of the State Department operations in Iraq. Van Buren also installed a link to WikiLeaks on his blog. “No one was particularly concerned about what we were doing, how much money we were spending, and the results of our endeavors,”  Van [...]

Sources in peril as journalists fail to keep pace in cybersecurity

A robust free press often relies on anonymous sources with reporters going to prison to protect these sources, but with the advances in electronic surveillance, journalists are ill-equipped to protect these sources, writes Christopher Soghoian, an expert in cybersecurity, in an op-ed for The New York Times. Soghoian says that news organizations need to invest [...]

A&A: Police refuse to release report on shooting

Q: The police are refusing to release a report it is doing on a shooting. Many months have passed since the incident. They give no explanation for their actions. What would be the best way to proceed to get them to release the report? A: As you may know, under California’s Public Records Act, public [...]

A&A:Trouble obtaining arrest records and mugshots

Q: We are attempting to obtain arrest logs and mugshots or the booking photos associated with each arrest from local police jurisdictions for the purpose of crime statistical data gathering. We are asking for data on a consistent basis, i.e. daily email, weekly spreadsheets etc. Some jurisdictions have supplied the arrest logs but no photos. [...]

Salt Lake: Prosecutor claims newspaper libeled her

A prosecutor alleged that the Salt Lake Tribune libeled her in a report accusing her of making racially charged remarks about a candidate for district attorney. She was demoted before the Tribune acknowledged that the accusations were not true. The prosecutor said the article was written to promote a Democratic candidate over the Republican incumbent [...]

Immigrant group gains access to ICE memo on deportation policy

A federal judge ruled that an  immigrant rights group could obtain an internal memo from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) concerning the legal justification for the Secure Communities deportation program. Using the Freedom of Information Act, the group sued five federal agencies for the memo. -d From the Courthouse News Service, October 26, [...]

Google marks pronounced rise in government requests for online data

Government world-wide are increasingly asking Google for information, causing the company to suggest that new laws are needed to govern Internet data. In the last six months, the U.S. government has made 5,950 requests for information with Google complying with 93 percent of the requests, and when asked to remove items, it complied 63 percent [...]

Digital freedom watchdog sues Justice Department over Patriot Act

The Electronic Freedom Foundation sued the Department of Justice for its failure to release documents detailing its interpretation and use of Section 215 of the U.S.A. Patriot Act. The section allows the FBI to obtain a court order for “any tangible thing” related to a terrorism investigation. The EFF claims the government has been misusing [...]

European court upholds right to sue Internet publishers in each country

Internet publishers may face a deluge of lawsuits in Europe after the European Court of Justice ruled that individuals can sue for invasion of privacy in each country where the offensive information can be accessed. “Publishers, though, should not be subject to stricter laws than would apply if the court action was taking place in [...]

Anti-piracy bill pits free speech rights against copyright interests

A bipartisan anti-piracy bill introduced in the House of Representatives has the backing of the entertainment industry who want to expel copyright-infringing web sites from the Internet. Internet companies and digital rights groups say the bill is heavy handed and poses a serious threat to free speech and innovation. -db From CNet News, October 26, [...]

Federal court rules against teacher fired for bringing disorderly conduct complaint against student

An Illinois junior high school teacher, fired for bringing a disorderly-conduct complaint against his student, lost a bid in federal court on a First Amendment retaliation claim. The judge in the federal suit said the teacher had not shown that his speech was a matter of public concern rather just a personal issue so could [...]

Delaware citizens challenge secret judicial proceedings

A Delaware open government coalition sued in federal court over a 2009 state law that gives the Chancery Court license to arbitrate business disputes between consenting parties. The Chancery Court set up procedures that make the hearings confidential and not part of the public record. The coalition wants the court to declare the law and [...]

A&A: Can public access city’s internal investigation report?

Q: Can an internal investigation conducted by a city be obtained by an individual. The essence of the investigation is the purchase of equipment from a company and paying twice the amount quoted by another company for the same exact equipment. The difference in price was $25,000. The copy of the outcome of the investigation [...]

A&A: Can police use hidden cameras to videotape the public without consent?

Q: Can the police legally use hidden cameras to videotape interactions with the public without the public’s consent? Not just in public–where there may be less of an expectation of privacy–but at an apartment or home entrance? A: You pose an interesting question. A provision of California’s Penal Code imposes penalties for “intentionally and without [...]

Critics pick on media to discredit ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protests

Conservative commentators are aiming their criticism at the media, particularly the National Public Radio and The New York Times, to claim that the Occupy Wall Street protests are fostered by the liberal media. The critics have questioned the objectivity of the media in particular for their ties to free lance journalists too close to the [...]

Justice Department proposes change to Freedom of Information Act that facilitates hiding records

The Justice Department has proposed a rule change for the FOIA to allow government agencies to deny that records do not exist when they do. As it stands now the government can withhold information and issue a Glomar denial that says they neither confirm nor deny the records exist. Open government advocates say that the [...]

Miami judge in controversial child custody case pursues gag order violators

A Miami child welfare judge, angered by apparent leaks of a custody hearing to a reporter, has asked over 30 Florida child welfare workers to appear before her to sign statements verifying that they were not the leakers. A retired judge says that although unusual, the judge was acting within her authority to demand the [...]

Louisiana student sues in federal court after suspended for criticizing teacher on Facebook

A Baton Rouge high school student sued school officials for suspending him and throwing him out of the honors club for criticizing a teacher on Facebook. The student made the comment from his home and removed it before school the next day. The boy’s parents contend that the comment was intended as a joke and [...]

Federal appeals court grants stay on release of identities of Prop. 8 contributors

After a federal judge upheld a ruling allowing release of donors to Prop. 8 prohibiting same-sex marriage in California, the 9th Circuit  U.S. Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay pending appeal of the ruling. -db From the Courthouse News Service, October 24, 2011, by William Dotinga. Full story

Freedom of assembly: Police evict ‘Occupy Oakland’ campers arresting 85

Oakland police swept through a City Hall plaza arresting 85 people protesting economic inequality and corporate greed. The city said it was necessary to maintain public safety and sanitation. The mayor said the protesters had a constitutional right to protest during the day but that injuries and criminal activities in the evening left the city [...]

Another First Amendment victory for funeral protesters

The three-judge U.S. Court of Appeals ruled last week that a Nebraska law keeping protesters 300 feet away from a memorial service was unconstitutional. The Westboro Baptist Church from Kansas has been picketing military funerals around the country contending that war deaths resulted from America’s growing acceptance of such activities as same-sex marriage. -db From [...]

WikiLeaks’ Assange says site in peril from U.S. blockade

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said WikiLeaks may have to shut down by next year since the financial blockade organized by the United States has turned off the spigot of donations. Assange charged that with Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union refusing to provide conduits for donations the site’s revenues have fallen to five percent of [...]

Federal appeals court keeps Prop. 8 trial videos on ice

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has delayed its decision on whether to release video recordings of the January 2010 Prop. 8 trial on the constitutionality of banning same-sex marriage. The court is still deciding if the public’s right to know outweighs potential danger to witnesses in favor of Prop. 8, passed by the [...]

Same-sex trial videos remain sealed – for now

Video recordings of last year’s same-sex marriage trial in California will remain under seal pending further review, a federal appeals court has decided. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said it must determine whether release of the videos would serve the public interest without compromising the safety of witnesses for Prop. [...]

A&A: Who is allowed to access arrest records?

Q: I submitted a request for  arrest and incident reports from a police department for a case involving my client but I got a call from someone in the Records Department who said that I needed to submit signed authorization from my client. Is that the case in your practice? A: If a person were [...]

A&A: Making an FOIA request regarding border security

Q: I’m an investigative reporter trying to obtain information from the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection (about 32 miles of the northern border are considered secure) and about the number of drugs, guns and weapons crossing over the border. I also need information on staffing levels compared to the southern border [...]

Billionaire backs website on federal government travel expenditures

Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is bankrolling a website run by Chris Carey, a Michigan journalist, with information about government travel spending. The site is  JunketSleuth.com and offers searchable records of travel spending of federal officials and Congressional leaders. JunketSleuth’s “main purpose is transparency and accountability,” said Carey. “People in Washington are saying we [...]

Pennsylvania wiretap law runs up against First Amendment

An auction company president filed a federal  lawsuit against two Franklin police officers for violating his First Amendment rights when they threatened to arrest him if he did not stop recording their conversation. The officers based their threat on Pennsylvania’s wiretap law that forbids recording conversations unless everyone agrees to it.-db From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, [...]

Obama administration makes public database on doctor malpractice private

Health reporters got a kick in the rear recently when the Obama administration withdrew a public database about doctor malpractice, writes Justin Silverman for the Citizens Media Law Project. The move came after a number of reporters used the national database to write stories about how their state regulators were reluctant to discipline doctors for [...]

School bus riders sue policeman for arresting them for making faces

Two North Carolina men are suing a town and a member of its police force for arresting them for making faces at him while he drove behind the bus. The men were both minors attending high school when the incident occurred. The lawsuit contends that the students were within their constitutional rights in making non-threatening [...]

Former Southern California bank vice president claims request for public officials’ salaries led to his firing

A Riverside man claims the bank that employed him fired him for taking an interest in local politics on his own time by attending a public meeting of the City Council to ask about pay of public officials. The former bank vice president said in the meeting he had not made any accusations but said [...]

Federal judge dismisses suit to keep secret the donors to proposition to ban same-sex marriage

A federal district judge upheld a state law allowing the release of names of those donating $100 or more to political campaigns. The supporters of Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage in California wanted to withdraw the information claiming that the donors were at risk. Prop. 8 supporters said they had been harassed, vandalized, and received  [...]

Free speech: Los Angeles policeman posts photo of dead boy on Twitter

When a Los Angeles police detective posted a photo of a murder victim on Twitter, questions arose about the propriety of the post and the policeman’s free speech rights. Even though the Los Angeles Police Department does not have a policy on the use of social media, they asked the detective to forego posting details [...]

California: Sebastopol hospital board cautioned about open meeting violations

With two vacancies on the five-member board, the Palm Drive Hospital board is facing allegations that it violated California’s open meeting laws in meetings involving two directors. Seventy-two hour notice was not provided for meetings to review proposals to join with other hospitals. -db From The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, October 20, 201, by Bob [...]

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