In this suit testing the enforcement powers in the D.C. Open Meetings Act, Superior Court Judge John Campbell heard argument last Friday (28) on pending motions from both sides for summary judgment (decision without a trial). The hearing was the first time the parties squared off in court.
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The New England First Amendment Coalition expressed concern this week about a proposed policy that would limit access to recordings of the Maine State House Facilities Committee, calling such recordings “an invaluable tool to aid with accuracy and immediacy, and one that is in the public’s great interest.”
The State House Facilities Committee is responsible for, among other things, the management of the capitol grounds and legislative space in the State House. It is currently considering three policies for the recording of its public hearings:
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Florida lawmakers are considering letting local officials meet one on one, outside of the public eye. But a first amendment advocate says the change could encourage corruption.
Florida’s sunshine laws require government meetings to be noticed and open to the public. But some lawmakers want to let local officials meet one on one. They wouldn’t be able to take votes or discuss publicly funded projects. But that doesn’t satisfy Barbara Petersen with the First Amendment Foundation.
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Read More… from Florida First Amendment Foundation Challenges Sunshine Law Exemption
A coalition of organizations dedicated to government openness and accountability, human rights, civil rights, and immigrant rights is calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to comply with the legal obligations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and fully disclose information on immigration enforcement cooperation between federal and non-federal law enforcement agencies. We urge ICE to comply with the FOIA in a timely manner, and to permit the release of data on immigration enforcement cooperation in full compliance with local and state transparency laws.
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They’re outside the traditional forms of local or state government, but so-called special districts spend more than $200 billion annually.
Nationwide, there are 38,000 of these government entities that provide a specific service for a designated area that would otherwise typically be provided by a local or state government.
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The Connecticut General Assembly is trying to exert more control over CT-N TV coverage of state government proceedings under a new request for proposals for a new five-year contract, raising protests freedom-of-information advocates.
The issue was Topic A at a midday meeting Wednesday of the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information—a group that has been "working for open, accountable government and a free press since 1955," according to its website.
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Western Kentucky University is asking for a stay in a case involving an Open Records dispute between the university and the Kentucky Attorney General's office.
In court documents, WKU has asked for the stay until a similar case involving the University of Kentucky is resolved.
WKU is suing the college's student newspaper after denying an open records request for paperwork about 20 sexual misconduct investigations among university employees in the past four years. The Kentucky Attorney General has intervened in the case.
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Read More… from Western Kentucky University asks for stay in Open Records dispute
The American Civil Liberties Union has joined with a journalist, a college professor and an activist to sue the Los Angeles Police Department over what they describe as a “systemic violation” of California’s public records law.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, accused the LAPD of failing to comply with the California Public Records Act by not responding to requests within the time frame mandated by the law or by ignoring inquiries altogether.
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Read More… from ACLU sues LAPD over ‘systemic violation’ of public records law
Earlier this month, Fort Collins Coloradoan reporter Nick Coltrain won the First Amendment Award at the Society for Professional Journalists’ Top of the Rockies for a battle with Colorado State University. He wanted to know if there were inequities in pay between men and women — and discovered there were, but only after a lot of work. The school provided him with a printout of all the information — 150 pages of an Excel spreadsheet — rather than the files themselves.
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Read More… from How One Colorado Reporter’s Struggle Led To New Open Records Legislation
Following a complaint by a national legal news service, the state of Vermont issued an emergency order effective Monday directing court clerks to make public all lawsuits as soon as they are filed.
Previously, state court rules required clerks to keep lawsuits secret until defendants had been served — a violation of the public's First Amendment right to access to court records, according to a federal case brought against Vermont by Courthouse News Service.
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