Government watchdog alleges FBI stonewalling on WikiLeaks surveillance

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has sued the Justice Department and the FBI claiming that they refuse to release information on the FBI’s surveillance of citizens who have shown support for or interest in WikiLeaks. EPIC made the Freedom of Information Act complaint in federal court. -db From the Courthouse News Service, January 31, [...]

Gay police officer loses right to make First Amendment case after he was hounded out of the department

A gay police officer who alleged that St. Cloud Police Department refused to allow him his First Amendment rights to work in the Twin Cities Pride Festival even if he used his vacation time lost a bid in federal court on the First Amendment claim. The court did say there was sufficient evidence to pursue [...]

Journalists snared in arrest net at Occupy Oakland protests

Six journalists were arrested at an Occupy Oakland protest at Oakland City Hall where protesters broke in and vandalized the walls. That brings the total of journalists arrested during the protests to 52. The reporters included those from KGO, an ABC affiliate, Mother Jones and the San Francisco Chronicle. As of now, it is not [...]

Federal agencies making scant progress in declassifying backlog

Two years after President Barack Obama ordered government agencies to come up to speed on declassifying 400 million pages of old records, there has been little progress. The failure to make more progress is a sign that the secrecy system considers itself immune from presidential orders, writes Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News. -db From a [...]

Illinois case greater threat to bloggers seeking protection of shield laws

The Oregon case denying a blogger protection under the state;’s shield is of minor concern writes Eric P. Robinson for the Citizen Media Law Project. A greater threat lies in a recent decision in Illinois. In that case the Cook County court ruled that an online news source that posted blogs on technology did not [...]

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul loses bid for identities of those posting online spoof

A federal judge ruled that Republican presidential contender Ron Paul could not force YouTube and Twitter to provide the identities of whoever uploaded videos with a spoof of Ron Paul bashing former candidate Jon Huntsman for being a Chinese agent. It is unusual for a candidate to sue in these matters given the courts’ tolerance [...]

LA Times editorial criticizes supervisors for excessive closed door meetings

An editorial in the Los Angeles Times says the board of supervisors for Los Angeles County “displays its contempt for the public” by closing the door before discussing such vital issues as the shift of convicts from state facilities to the county. The Times argues that the mere wish to speak frankly does not allow [...]

A&A: Does the Brown Act allow closed sessions to appoint legal firm?

Q: Our local water district board is appointing new general counsel. They have agendized this in a special meeting, allowing each prospect to give a presentation on their firm in open session. After each presentation, the board went into closed session pursuant to GC 54957(b)(1), ”Public Employee Appointment: General Counsel.” I have never seen this [...]

Doctors uneasy about online complaints attempt to stifle criticism

Writing critical reviews of doctors and dentists online could make you the target of a defamation lawsuit as medical professionals try to stifle negative comments. Some doctors are asking patients to sign gag orders to prevent online comments while the sites are publishing the names of doctors using gag order forms and providing patients with [...]

California: Long Beach wants state court to keep names of officers involved in shootings secret

Long Beach and a police officers group are asking an appeals court  to overturn a lower court ruling that the city must provide the names of officers involved in shootings. After a controversial shooting of an unarmed man in Long Beach in 2010, the Los Angeles Times asked the city to provide the identities of [...]

Justice Department cites threat of violence in U.S. in keeping bin Laden photos secret

The Justice Department wants a federal judge to allow them to withhold photos of the death of Osama bin Laden on the grounds that releasing the photos could incite violence against the U.S. The DOJ disputed the arguments of Judicial Watch that making the photos public would cause harm to national security by revealing intelligence [...]

Federal appeals court upholds Stolen Valor Act

After the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional in a separate case, the 10th Circuit upheld the law which prohibits lying about military awards. The opinion of the 10th Circuit judges cited a statement from a Supreme Court ruling that false statements do not get constitutional protection, “except to [...]

Opinion: NBC TV station obliged to run Romney ad the network objects to

After NBC TV station continued to air a Mitt Romney ad that the network wants pulled, they were charged with hypocrisy, but says Josh Gerstein in Politico, it’s not that the stations would sell out principles to make a buck, FCC rules say that stations have to take ads on a comparable basis from all [...]

Federal appeals court hands censorship tool to public colleges

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals extended the Supreme Court ruling known as Hazelwood to public colleges and universities while ruling on a case over the expulsion of a student in a counseling program at Eastern Michigan University. Hazelwood allows school administrators to censor student expression on the grounds of “legitimate pedagogical concerns.” -db [...]

Public has options in dealing with Twitter’s new country-specific censorship

After Twitter announced last week they would engage in country-specific censorship, EFF’s Eva Galperin says there are ways to fight the plan including checking to see if Twitter makes use of the Chilling Effects Project which publishes a country’s censorship orders and puts it in an archive. Galperin also says that a user can circumvent [...]

DEA agent loses privacy case over self-inflicted bullet wound during public presentation

The District of Columbia appeals court ruled that an agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration could not sue the agency for releasing a video showing him shoot himself in the leg while lecturing children on gun safety. The agent claimed the DEA violated his privacy rights. -db From the Courthouse News Service, January 27, 2012, [...]

Twitter censorship plan provokes outrage

To cries of protest, Twitter announced last week that it will take a country’s laws and culture into account in conducting country-specific censorship. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who is also the second largest shareholder in News Corp., recently invested $300 million in Twitter. -db From the Courthouse News Service, January 27, 2012, by Adam [...]

A&A: Are Community College Faculty Senate meetings covered by the Brown Act?

Q: I believe Community College Faculty Senates are subject to the Brown Act?  If so, must these bodies disclose how each member voted on an item? I teach at a community college.  My program was asked to make some amendments to an item, otherwise an individual told us she would challenge the matter. We made [...]

A&A: Accessing contracts to sub-consultants on public projects

Q: We are trying to obtain records from an engineering contractor on a multi-billion dollar project they have with the state. In addition, we are seeking contracts, correspondence, etc. pertaining to the project between this engineering firm and multiple sub-consultants they have hired. Will FOIA allow us to obtain contracts between prime consultants and their [...]

Citizen sources base for new reporting unit by Public Insight Network

The Public Insight Network (PIN) is launching its own reporting unit to produce original stories tapping into  its huge database of 130,000 citizen sources. Citizens across America and recently South Africa have been reporting their experiences to the PIN database. Reporters can use the sources to write stories on such topics as foreclosures or the [...]

Acai diet pill promoters lose millions in settlement with FCC over fake news stories

The Federal Trade Commission won a $4 million settlement against marketers of the Acai diet pill who made false claims about the pill’s effectiveness that included reference to fake news stories. The promoters will only pay $500,000, the value of their tangible assets. -db From the Los Angeles Times, January 25, 2012, by Matt Stevens. [...]

Family sues Hustler for $20 million for publishing nude photos after death

A grieving family is suing Hustler Magazine for $20 million after the magazine published nude photos of a model who was murdered by her husband. Hustler is claiming that the model was a public figure and newsworthy. -db From the  Daily Mail, January 26, 2012, by Daily Mail Reporter. Full story  

Auto safety firm sues for records of government investigation of sudden acceleration

Safety Research and Strategies is suing the federal government for details of their investigation into the sudden acceleration of a Prius last year. Federal regulators have found no evidence that electronic systems were the cause of the unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles, but Safety Research is not satisfied with that conclusion. -db From The New [...]

California appeals court rules sexual harassment complaint against teacher public record

A Santa Monica math teacher lost a lawsuit in a California appeals court to keep a sexual harassment complaint against him private. The court found substantial public interest in the release of details of the investigation into a parent’s charge that the teacher sexually harassed his thirteen-year-old daughter. The charge was not fully substantiated. -db [...]

U.S. press freedom plummeted in 2011

Press freedom took a hit in the United States in 2011 according to Reporters Without Borders who ranked contries according to their performance. The U.S. now shares 47th place in a tie with Romania and Argentina. Much of the drop may be based on the harassment, beating and arrest of journalists covering Occupy Wall Street [...]

Federal appeals court rules Albuquerque public library must allow sex offenders

The 10th Circuit Appellate Court upheld a lower court decision that Albuquerque’s ban on registered sex offenders in public libraries violates the First Amendment. The court ruled that the ban was too restrictive and did not allow alternative means for sex offenders to gain access to the library’s information and ideas. -db From the First [...]

South Carolina prison newsletter wins censorship suit

A South Carolina county will have to pony up nearly $600,000 to settle a censorship lawsuit brought by a group who publishes a monthly newsletter for prison inmates. Before the settlement, prison officials at a county detention center only allowed inmates religious texts for reading materials. -db From the First Amendment Center, January 26, 2012, [...]

Sikh leader sues comedian Jay Leno for defamation in Mitt Romney joke

As Jay Leno was joking on “The Tonight Show”about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s wealth, a picture of the Sikh’s  Golden Temple Holy Shrine appeared on a screen. A Sikh religious leader filed a lawsuit against Leno and NBC claiming the Leno joke was false and brought Sikhs into public hatred, contempt and ridicule. -db [...]

California: Ventura County school district leads the county in open meeting complaints

The Rio School District has over half of the 36 complaints about violations of the state’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, according to a report by the district attorney’s office. The office said it might have to take legal action against the district unless they paid greater attention to the issue, perhaps providing training [...]

California: Newspaper seeks information on robbery in Alameda

After tipsters told the Action Alameda News that the Alameda Police Department was trying to cover up a robbery at a restaurant in December of 2011, the newspaper made a public records request on the incident. The police denied that there was a coverup and denied access to 911 tapes saying that they were exempt [...]

Europe considers tough online privacy law

Europe is considering a new law that would require Internet companies like Amazon and Facebook to obtain consent from consumers to  use their personal data. The law would force companies to delete personal data forever at the consumer’s request or face fines for failing to comply. -db From The New York Times, January 23, 2012, [...]

Chicago Sun-Times abandons political endorsements

In a recognition of its waning influence, the Chicago Sun-Times has decided to stop endorsing political candidates. As reasons for the move, it also says it wants to allow readers to decide for themselves and that it wants to appear nonpartisan. -db From The Atlantic Wire, January 23, 2-12, by Dino Grandoni. Full story  

WiliLeaks founder getting TV show

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will have his own TV interview show this spring pending the outcome of his court hearing on February 1. He says he plans to interview political thinkers and revolutionaries. Assange is waiting for the appeal of his extradition to Sweden on sex charges. -db From Gizmodo, January 24, 2012, by Jamie [...]

Supreme Court police arrest man for ‘Occupy Everything’ words on jacket

In an incident reminiscent of  Cohen v. California, the Supreme Court police arrested a man in a corridor wearing a jacket with the words “Occupy Everything.” For the Citizen Media Law Project, Andrew F. Sellars analyzes the case finding little basis for the arrest. “Here, in the halls of the very building that brought us [...]

Federal judge rejects San Diego election campaign donation cap

A federal judge ruled that San Diego could not enforce its $1000 cap on donations by political parties to local election campaigns. The city wanted to stem the San Diego’s corrupt political scene, but the judge said she doubted that the anti-corruption interest was credible given the natural connection between parties and candidates. -db From [...]

Whistleblower sues over firing during BP gulf oil spill cleanup

BP allegedly fired a worker for refusing to change data so that the company could claim the gulf oil spill cleanup was over and begin the restoration phase of the operation. The worker claimed a BP vice president said the announcement that the cleanup was over would provide a needed boost for BP stock prices. [...]

Government indicts former CIA officer for leaks of classfied information to journalists

The Justice Department  is charging a former intelligence officer with leaking classified information to a journalist. The leaks included the names of covert officers and their work in apprehending terrorist suspects. The officer is charged with divulging to a New York Times reporter the contact information and details of activities of a covert CIA operative. [...]

Muhammad Ali a central figure in unfolding of First Amendment rights

Muhammad Ali, the former world heavyweight boxing champion, “embodies the essence of the First Amendment,” writes David L. Hudson Jr., of the First Amendment Center. Hudson shows how Ali was at the “vortex of…First Amendment freedoms,” freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.  -db From a commentary for the First Amendment Center, January 21, [...]

Opinion: Supreme Court decision on copyright of foreign works a blow to free speech

The U.S. Supreme Court extended copyright protection to foreign works created from 1023 to 1989 and already in the public domain thereby shutting down creative uses of these works to protect profits of the owners of old works. The overall result, argues Ken Paulson of the First Amendment Center, is a loss of free speech. [...]

FBI investigating News Corp. for allegedly hacking into actor’s e-mail

FBI said it was checking into the possibility that News Corp’s News of the World reporters were hacking into the voice mail of actor Jude Law at JFK Airport in New York. -db From AdWeek, January 20 2012, by Emma Bazilian. Full story  

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