Defamation and libel in statements to elected officials

Defamation and libel in statements to elected officials Q: Are letters submitted to city council pertaining to an agenda item which contain obvious defamation and libel against a private citizen protected speech? I am a community representative who was the subject of hate speech via two letters, one anonymous and one signed to city council. [...]

Subpoenaed for a trial

Subpoenaed for a trial Q: I have been civil-subpoenaed to appear as a witness in a trial. I do not wish to be involved in the matter. Can I decline to testify? If I can, how do I go about doing it? Can you point me to the forms, etc., that would be required to [...]

Passing out flyers in front of a public school

Passing out flyers in front of a public school Q: Is it permissible to pass out flyers on the sidewalk in front of a public school? We are passing out flyers about our school in front of local public schools. Consistently, the principals tell us that this is not permissible. It is my understanding that [...]

Program featuring illegal immigrants

Program featuring illegal immigrants Q: Our station has created a series vignettes. These are interviews (in Spanish) with people in all walks of life who have made a success of themselves. The vignettes are sponsored by advertisers. We want to produce two with people/families who are illegal immigrants but have survive/made it in the America. [...]

A&A: Stolen student newspapers

Q: I am a part of a public college newspaper that keeps  getting stolen off our campus racks. We are working on developing a policy with the college district to prevent this from recurring and to establish disciplinary measures if it does. The problem is we don’t know where to start, and the college just [...]

Comments on blog journals

Comments on blog journals Q: I have been served with a restraining order for comments that I posted to a Web site. The plantiff’s justification is that I have engaged in a course of action against her. Nowhere in the posts is her name mentioned specifically, I make no specific plans to do her physical [...]

Murals on private property

Murals on private property Q: I would like to find court decisions where city ordinances or actions prohibiting murals on private property have been thrown out because they violate the First Amendment or California’s Constitution. It is my understanding that murals are protected as speech and cities cannot regulate them by permit on private property. [...]

Cameras in prison

Cameras in prison Q: We’re trying to get a photographer into a state prison to take a picture of a kid who is serving eight years for kicking another man in the head in a fight. The inmate had a clean record previously. The prison has told us no cameras and I’m wondering if we [...]

On-line Web journals

On-line Web journals Q: I have been served with a restraining order in my county for comments that I posted to a Web site. The plantiff’s justification is that I have engaged in a course of action against her. Nowhere in the posts is her name mentioned specifically, I make no plans to do her [...]

Petitioning in front of stores

Petitioning in front of stores Q: My group is being told by Target, Sam’s Club, and other stores that we are not allowed to circulate a petition in front of their stores. Doesn’t that violate our right to get an initiative on the ballot? What are our rights? A: The California Supreme Court has held [...]

Online message boards

Online message boards Q: How do you address a situation where several dozen people used an online message board to direct excessively abusive commentary at you, hiding behind the First Amendment to do it? Exactly how would a victim of such harassment go about getting any kind of legal satisfaction? A: We cannot tell from [...]

Political sign bans by housing that receive public funds

Political sign bans by housing that receive public funds Q: I want to put a campaign in my apartment window but my particular apartment lease has a restriction in it barring political yard/window signs. Is this a violation of the First Amendment?My complex is funded by a special type state loan — a California Housing [...]

Can private shopping malls restrict my right to protest?

Can private shopping malls restrict my right to protest? Q: Our Peace Action group in Hawaii wants to demonstrate against military recruiters located in a private shopping mall.  We’d like to know whether there is a right to access the recruiting office which transcends the right of the private shopping mall operators to remove us [...]

Do reporters have to sign in at public schools?

Do reporters have to sign in at public schools? Q: Do reporters have to sign in to interview students/teachers on public school campuses? A: Short answer: No.Long answer:  Section 627.2 of the California Penal Code requires all “outsiders” to register with the principal (or designated official) before entering the buildings or grounds of a public [...]

Can reporters photograph public school students?

Can reporters photograph public school students? Q: Is it legal for schools to restrict newspaper photographers from shooting students whose parents have filled out forms stating that they are not allowed to be photographed? A: In general, school administrators may not require written parental permission before allowing members of the news media to interview students [...]

A&A: Reporter Access to Public Schools

Q: What does state law say about reporters’ access to K-12 campuses?Must reporters “check in” before they can access a campus for press purposes?Please let me know where I can find the appropriate sections of whatever statutes might apply. A: Section 627.2 of the California Penal Code requires all “outsiders” to register with the principal [...]

Government facilities available for public use

Government facilities available for public use Q: I have a city council member using city council chambers, on private time, to hold an event for her non-profit – which is dedicated to putting the motto “In God We Trust” into council chambers across California and the nation. She is being charged a fee. I wonder [...]

Can cities discriminate between political and commercial signs on public property?

Can cities discriminate between political and commercial signs on public property? Q: Our city claims we can not put political signs in the public right of way unless we have a person stationed there to watch them.  They have taken many of our signs and now they want to fine us.  They have real estate [...]

Right to photograph in public/private forums

Right to photograph in public/private forums Q: We have been told by a small-community postmaster, and a higher-up in a regional office, that we cannot photograph the inside of the tiny lobby for a story about small community life. They say it is “our policy” but will cite no specific law. We’ve also asked for [...]

Can I publish the name of a minor involved in a crime?

Can I publish the name of a minor involved in a crime? Q: We printed the name of a 17-year-old arrested for car jacking. Now the mother is complaining and said we should not have legally named her kid. Does she have a case? A: In general, under the First Amendment the truthful publication of [...]

Can airing a copyrighted news clip for critiquing constitute “fair use”?

Can airing a copyrighted news clip for critiquing constitute “fair use”? Q: I am one of the producers of a Cable Access TV program and I want to know if we can show a news clip from a local broadcast station on our program in order to critique it.  Is this a copyright violation or [...]

Do ‘disturbing the peace’ laws trump the First Amendment?

Do ‘disturbing the peace’ laws trump the First Amendment? Q: Two of about a dozen protesters were arrested for 415 section 2, ‘disturbing the peace’, while peacefully protesting.The incident occurred between the hours of 6pm and 8pm.We arrived for our court date only to find no charges had been filed.A week after that we received [...]

Tape recording public gatherings and attendee rights

Tape recording public gatherings and attendee rights Q: I live in a resident owned mobile home park. I am also a board member. At the last board meeting, a resident taped the meeting. This bothered many of the residents. When a resident asked the board about this, the person taping the meeting interrupted then snapped [...]

Online Sheriff’s Blotter

Online Sheriff’s Blotter Q: The County Sheriff Department maintains a website that contains a sheriff’s blotter of recent calls and related arrests by community.  When I first started using this website to track crime in my community, the information about arrests included the charges filed, felony status, jurisdiction issuing warrants, etc.  That information was removed about 18 months ago [...]

Cal Expo Data

Cal Expo Data Q: I want to publish the results of the CA State Fair and Exposition Commercial Wine Competition on my web. CA State Fair and Exposition is commonly known as Cal Expo. The results are approximately 2000 records containing the winery name, wine receiving an award, award(s), gallons produced, retail price, bottle size. [...]

A&A: Obtaining Documents from Board Meetings

Q: This may be not a violation of the CPRA, but can there be abuse of CPRA and resulting repercussions? For example, I wanted to receive a document that was presented at a Board hearing that I did not attend. Even though this document was made public, when I asked for a copy of it, [...]

Information on Running for City Clerk

Information on Running for City Clerk Q: My wife and I are trying to gather information on running for City Clerk in our town. She did a Public Records Request and wrote: “I would like to request when term is up for City Clerk elected position and all city laws that apply to run for [...]

University of California Collections

University of California Collections Q: I’m trying to gain viewing and copying access of an archive at UCLA Special Collections that until last week has been available to the public. It is a collection of materials from a research study funded by the NIMH in the 1970s, of a single subject who is now an [...]

County’s Technical Review

County’s Technical Review Q: We recently made a Public Record Request for documents relating to the County’s General Plan technical review and technical fix. The request was denied because: “…this draft is still undergoing internal staff and legal review. For that reason, the County is not able to produce the draft, or any memoranda or [...]

Developments on Public Lands

Developments on Public Lands Q: A developer is building or redeveloping 32 (of 36 buildings) towering buildings (8 to 14 stories tall each) in our town without adding streets, freeways or adequate city services. This is against our MASTER PLAN.  Buildings include private residence towers (for people from outside the town) on the last of [...]

Filing Complaint under State Audits Guidelines

Filing Complaint under State Audits Guidelines Q: In accordance with the guidelines on the CA. Board of State Audits web page (http://www.bsa.ca.gov/hotline/), I filed a complaint online concerning the improper use of outside contractors. I have requested various documents under the California Public Records Act in support of this complain. To date, I’ve only received [...]

Does the agency have to know why you want records

Does the agency have to know why you want records Q: An agency that I am requesting info from is pressing to know “what am I looking for”, e.g. why I want it.  Do I have to say? A: The answer to your question is “no.”  You do not have to state the purpose for [...]

Economic Interest Disclosure Statements

Economic Interest Disclosure Statements Q: I sent a PRA request to the County Clerk, Recorder, Registrar of Voters, back in January of this year. I Requested to see all the form 700 disclosure statements of economic interests, for each County Extraction Review Team member; whereas stated in the County Conflict of Interest Code, named in [...]

Third Party Notification

Third Party Notification Q: Does the custodian of a public record have the right to notify the party that someone is requesting their public record?  I.e., there was a bid for a public entity that is now closed.  I want to obtain a copy of the winning bid, but the custodian is saying that they [...]

State Agency Test Results

State Agency Test Results Q: I am requesting the results of a test from a state agency.  It appears the agency is declining my request not only for my results, but also to view the results of other candidates and also the decision process of the hiring manager. A: Generally speaking, laws restricting access to [...]

Obtaining Copies of Video

Obtaining Copies of Video Q: I was assaulted at old town trolley station by a trolley officer, this assault was caught on video. How do i get a copy of video? A: From the information in your submission, it is not clear who is in possession of the video tape you reference.  If the Metropolitan [...]

Missing Records from Request

Missing Records from Request Q: I requested information from The County Economic Council. They didn’t want to share information that would be of “us” to me, so they left out many pages that were the most important ones for me to see.  They claimed that they showed me the final document, when in fact, at [...]

Police Reports

Police Reports Q: Using information provided at a journalism conference by a CFAC attorney, I asked a local police agency for a basic incident report on a fatal hazing incident, citing 6254F, F1 and F2. The officer said he was not required to give the report, citing (of all things) 6254 F. I asked if [...]

University of California Press

University of California Press Q: I am a journalist working on a book about a cult that was active in southern California in the 90s.  As part of my research, I am trying to obtain records from the University of California Press about a book they published.  My hope is to obtain the minutes of [...]

Obtaining Procedures Manual

Obtaining Procedures Manual Q: I am trying to get a copy of the Officer Safety Manual from the California Highway Patrol.  I do work investigating accidents.  The particular accident I am investigating is a Traffic accident.  The officers on scene state that they followed procedures set forth in the Officer Safety Manual.  I called the [...]

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