Vol. 14, No. 31, September 1, 2004
People’s Right to Know, redacted
version:
Pentagon censors footage from government video
intended to teach federal employees how to
answer FOI requests.
(The Associated Press 9/1/04) -- The Pentagon censored some footage in public versions of a Humphrey Bogart-themed videotape that cost $70,500 to produce and was intended to teach government employees to respond to citizens' requests for information.
Parts of the training video, "The People's Right to Know" were blacked out and replaced with the message, "copyrighted material removed for public viewing." Defense Department officials said they did so because they worried the government did not have legal rights to some historical footage that was included. (Read the story)
Long Beach city attorney lifts gag order on council members after environmentalists cry foul. No-talk policy meant to prevent closed door lobbying of individual council members
(Long Beach Press Telegram 8/25/04) -- City Attorney Bob Shannon has blinked.
He issued a memo earlier this month to Long Beach City Council members, advising them not to talk to anyone involved in a vote on the proposed Pier J expansion, including environmentalists who are appealing the Harbor Commission's approval of the plan's environmental impact report. (Read the story)
Bonita school board, sued by teachers challenging restrictions on public comment, wrestles with policy limiting board’s contract negotiations with teachers
(Inland Valley Daily Bulletin 8/19/04) -- The Bonita Unified school board will seek to resolve a lawsuit charging the district with violating teachers' free speech rights at board meetings and make changes to the controversial policy at the center of the suit.
Board members decided late Wednesday to rework the longstanding policy -- which was used in June to prevent teachers from addressing the school board with contract negotiation concerns -- saying it needed better wording to make it less broad and minimize confusion. (Read the story)
RESISTING GOVERNMENT SECRECY IN TIME OF TERRORISM
keynote speaker
SEYMOUR HERSH
a CFAC annual free speech assembly
October 8 and 9
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
Information and early registration available
here!
HOTLINE Q & A
CFAC’s Legal Hotline service offers free legal information to CFAC members. Answers are provided by lawyers at the San Francisco office of Piper Rudnick, a national law firm. Questions this week concern meetings of planning commissions and obtaining public records from a state department.
Question and Answers
Is a “study session” a public meeting?
Q: Our planning commission will soon have what it calls a “study session” regarding a development project in the community. In the notice, the study session is described as a public meeting, but not a public hearing or special meeting. The notice also says that public comment might or might not be allowed—at the chairman’s discretion.
The meeting was described by the planning director as a chance to get familiar with the project before it was agendized, so it wouldn't take up too much time at a regular meeting.
Does the public meeting law cover a session like this? And if so, what is the obligation of the commission to permit public comment? Thank you so much. (Read the answer)
How precise does a record request have to be?
Q. A state department is giving us trouble
with obtaining public records, claiming that
if we put in a request asking for "any
and all documents" related to a certain
subject, they can refuse it based on the idea
that it's too broad. They say they're not required
to go searching through all employees' documents
looking for stuff, just records that are "reasonably
identified". No problem there, but they're
resisting and I'd like to be clear on what
they're required to give us and how I can best
avoid pitfalls. Thank you! (Read
the answer)
CFAC IN THE NEWS
Break up of Desert Hot Springs’ planning commission may violate open meeting law. Issue is whether meeting notice described action taken by City Council
(The Press-Enterprise 9/1/04) -- The Desert Hot Springs City Council may have violated state law when it voted to disband the city's Planning Commission early last month, according to an expert in open meetings laws.
The council voted 4-0 on Aug. 3 to disband
the commission without receiving comments from
the public. The council agenda listed a Planning
Commission item to "Request that Council
make appropriate appointments to the Planning
Commission." (Read
the story)
Texas newspaper hit with $1.1 billion suit over disclosure of plaintiff’s HIV status. Unusual case is based on state law governing medical tests.
(Texas Lawyer 8/30/04) -- The Dallas Observer, its parent company New Times Inc. and others have been targeted in a $1.1 billion suit by a plaintiff who alleges the alternative weekly wrongfully disclosed his HIV-positive status, referencing him by name in a published article last December.
In a motion for summary judgment filed on Aug. 20, three of the defendants seek the dismissal of the plaintiff's petition, which several First Amendment lawyers say raises significant constitutional questions never before ruled on by a state judge in Texas. (Read the story)
Lawsuit Claims Free Speech for Casino Ads. Online gambling portal claims ads for offshore casinos are protected commercial speech even if online gambling is illegal.
(The New York Times 8/23/04) -- An Internet company that publishes information about online gambling has asked a federal district court in Louisiana to decide whether advertisements for Internet casinos are protected forms of speech.
The lawsuit, filed on Aug. 9 by Casino City Inc., which operates CasinoCity.com, an online casino directory, charges that the Justice Department violated the Constitution by threatening American publishers with criminal penalties if they broadcast, print or display advertisements for gambling Web sites. The company is asking the court to issue a declaratory judgment that advertisements for online casinos are constitutionally protected speech. (Read the story)
Group wishing to bar sale of Nazi memorabilia on Yahoo wins key round in U.S. 9th circuit. Court rules Yahoo can’t use U.S. courts to preempt suit in French court
(The Recorder 8/24/04) -- Yahoo Inc.'s attempt to protect itself against a French court's order forbidding auctions of Nazi memorabilia has failed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
A divided panel ruled that U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction over two organizations that successfully sued Yahoo in French court, winning sanctions and thousands in fines.
It is against French law to sell or possess Nazi memorabilia. Two groups -- La Ligue Contre Le Racisme et L'Antisemitisme and L'Union Des Etudiants Juifs de France -- filed suit against the well-known Internet portal in 2000, arguing that Yahoo facilitates transactions and discussions of the offending materials. (Read the story)
Open government group says Bush administration has gone overboard in classifying information as secret.
(San Francisco Chronicle 8/27/04) -- The federal government under President Bush is classifying more information as secret, spending more to do it and falling further behind in dealing with the public's requests for information, a coalition of groups trying to combat secrecy in government reported Thursday.
"Secrecy has increased dramatically in recent years under the policies of the current administration,'' the 30-organization coalition called Openthegovernment.org said. (Read the story)
Newspaper group trying to unseal Pennsylvania court records on Heinz estate
(The Associated Press 8/21/04) -- Two more newspapers are joining an effort to unseal the estate record of the late U.S. Sen. H. John Heinz III as they report on Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of the Democratic nominee for president. (Read the story)
If you have suggestions for items to be included in CFAC's weekly Flash, please email them to Peter Scheer