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Friday October 14 and Saturday October 15
CFAC's 10th Annual Open Government Assembly
This year at the Cal State Fullerton School of Communications
Keynote speaker FLOYD ABRAMS
Featured speaker DAN GILLMOR
Honoring MARK FELT (aka "Deep Throat")
Plus two days of panel discussions, classes and debates featuring experts from the worlds of journalism, law, national security and technology. Here's the schedule.
Download a text version of the schedule in PDF form
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
Friday, October 14
12:30-2:00 p.m.
Registration
1:15-3:15 p.m.
Workshop: Fundamentals of California access law
A two-hour "super course" on state access laws and practices. Topics include the Brown Act and other open-meeting laws, as well as the California Public Records Act and rules governing access to court records. The discussion also will cover recent court cases, Attorney General opinions and state administrative actions. Attention will also be given to Proposition 59, November 2004 state ballot initiative establishing a constitutional right of access.
Panelists
James M. Chadwick, DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary LLP
William Nottingham, Los Angeles Times
Kelli L. Sager, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Dennis A. Winston, Moskowitz, Brestoff, Winston & Blinderman LLP
Moderator
Maureen S. Rubin, CSU Northridge
3:30-4:45 p.m.
Panel discussion: Does your community need a "sunshine ordinance"?
Panelists will discuss measures adopted in such cities as Oakland, San Francisco and Riverside to supplement state open meeting and public records laws. "Sunshine Ordinances" range from elaborately specific safeguards (for example, in San Francisco) to short and simple statements of principles.
This panel will explore whether sunshine ordinances add significantly to the rights already secured by the Brown Act and the Public Records Act; the types of ordinances likely to be most effective; political strategies for enacting these measures; and how to avoid various pitfalls.
Panelists
Bruce Brugmann, The San Francisco Bay Guardian
Eric Haley, County of Riverside
Mark Morodomi, City of Oakland
Moderator
Barbara S. Blinderman, Moskowitz, Brestoff, Winston &
Blinderman LLP
Panel discussion: Great news stories found in government databases
This panel, primarily for working journalists and editors, will feature reporters who have worked on groundbreaking articles using computer-assisted research of databases obtained from state agencies using the California Public Records Act. Panelists include two 2005 Polk award winners, Justin Pritchard and John Hill. Work to be highlighted includes stories about: wasteful government spending, excessive government overtime pay, the quality of care provided by local hospitals and the performance of individual teachers in local public schools. The panel will also explore legal issues relating to requests for copies of government databases, including how much agencies may charge to recover the cost of furnished data and whether officials may resist database requests by characterizing them as "fishing expeditions."
Panelists
Justin Pritchard, Associated Press
Susan E. Seager, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
John Hill, Sacramento Bee
Natalya Shulyakovskaya, The Orange County Register
Moderator
Dennis Foley, The Orange County Register
5:00-6:00 p.m.
Address by Dan Gillmor
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Reception
Saturday, October 15
8:30-10:30 a.m.
Registration
9:00-10:15 a.m.
Panel discussion: Protecting confidential sources
Panelists will discuss rulings in both criminal and civil cases that have put reporters under pressure to reveal confidential sources, including the Judith Miller case. Participants include Phil Bronstein, editor of the SF Chronicle, Brian Hershman, a federal prosecutor involved in the BALCO steroid scandal, and Kurt Opsahl, the lawyer who represented bloggers subpoenaed by Apple Computer. Discussion will include private lawsuits against the federal government that have generated contempt judgments against reporters as witnesses, prospects for a federal "shield law" and such issues as whether the case for source-protection is undermined by reporters' use of "anonymous" sources, the scope of protection in state court litigation under California's shield law and whether bloggers should receive the same protection as mainstream media.
Panelists
Phil Bronstein, San Francisco Chronicle
Karlene Goller, Los Angeles Times
Brian Hershman, U.S. Department of Justice
Kurt Opsahl, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Moderator
Peter Scheer, California First Amendment Coalition
Panel discussion: Journos vs. Jacko: Court access
The rules say court proceedings and records must be open to the public and press. The reality can be very different, particularly in sensational cases. This panel will look at that gap and address the special problems created by celebrity trials, using the recent criminal prosecution of Michael Jackson as a model.
Participants include Ted Boutrous, who represented the media in the Jackson case, Linda Deutsch, who covered it for the AP, and Tony Rackauckas, Orange County's District Attorney and a former judge.
Among issues to be addressed: Does the intensity of public interest in a celebrity case justify-in order to protect the celebrity's right to a fair trial-restrictions on access that would not be acceptable in routine cases?
Panelists
Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Linda Deutsch, Associated Press
Tony Rackauckas, District Attorney of Orange County
Moderator
Harold W. Fuson Jr., The Copley Press Inc.
10:30-11:45 a.m.
Panel discussion: Blogging: a new journalistic form, or barbarians at
the gates?
This panel, which will include pioneer bloggers and today's leading practitioners of the blog, will consider blogging's considerable power to influence the mainstream political agenda-propelling, for example, Howard Dean's ascent and Dan Rather's decline. Panelists will debate whether blogging is the paradigm of Madison's "marketplace of ideas," or a chaotic street bazaar in which truth is drowned out by hawkers of rumor and invective. Other issues to be considered: is blogging a "fifth estate," necessary to hold the mainstream media accountable? Panelists also will discuss blogging's relation to the "new journalism" of an earlier era, the legal protections-or lack thereof-of blogging, with a focus on Apple Computer's suit to force bloggers in Massachusetts and California to disclose confidential sources. In addition, panelists will explore ideas for incorporating aspects of blogging into newspapers and other traditional news formats.
Panelists
Dan Gillmor, author & blogger
Mack Reed, LAVoice.org
Kevin Roderick, LAObserved.com
Moderator
Kevin S. Bankston, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Panel discussion: What's new in access law?
A look at changes to access laws at the federal and state levels, including litigation and legislation to capitalize on Proposition 59, which places open government principles in the state constitution. A panel of experts will highlight, explain and critique the latest developments. These include legislation to revise the federal Freedom of Information Act and to create a federal shield law. At the state level, recent developments include both litigation and legislation to capitalize on Proposition 59. Passed overwhelmingly by voters in November 2004, the measure places open-government principles in the state constitution. But does it have any real bite? Consideration will be given to efforts to subject the state judiciary to Proposition 59, use of it to restrict or overturn the "deliberative process privilege" doctrine, the effect of Governor Schwarzenegger's decision to disclose his calendar of appointments, litigation to establish that Proposition 59 is "self-effectuating" and use of the ballot measure in legislation to prevent the characterization of Brown Act requirements as "unfunded mandates."
Panelists
Scott Armstrong, National Security Archive
Thomas W. Newton, California Newspaper Publishers Association
Karl Olson, Levy, Ram & Olson LLP
Moderator
Dr. Rick Pullen, CSU Fullerton
12:00-1:00 p.m.
Lunch
12:45-1:30 p.m.
Keynote address by Floyd Abrams
1:35-2:45 p.m.
Awards ceremony
Award honoring Mark Felt
Beacon Award-recognizing those who exemplify the spirit of First Amendment freedoms.
Darkness Award-bestowed on those who show a blatant disdain for the
principles of open government.
Bill Farr Award-honoring an individual who has performed exemplary work in the arena of open government.
3:00-4:15 p.m.
Panel discussion: Gumming up the free flow of ideas
Is overzealous enforcement of patents and trade secrets restraining free speech? Or does technology threaten to destroy the value of intellectual property? Panelists will explain and critique the latest developments.
Restricting public access to information is usually-but not exclusively-the
domain of government. The private sector, using laws enacted by government,
also asserts rights of ownership over what you thought was free. This
panel of legal experts will focus on the dangers potentially posed by
too much protection for intellectual property. The panel will consider
such issues as whether overly broad patents restrict investment and research
in new technologies, extensions of federal copyright preventing famous
writings and works of art from entering the public domain and "trade
secrets"-a concept so elastic it may cover virtually any corporate
information revealed without authorization. The panel will also consider
the opposite of too much
protection: technology's capacity to destroy the value in intellectual
property through piracy of software, songs and videos.
Panelists
Fred von Lohmann, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Jennifer Urban, USC Law School
Moderator
Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times
Panel discussion: The perils of too much secrecy
Concerns about security and privacy have greatly reduced access to government information in the years since the terrorist attacks. Panelists will explore this trend, and its implications, in the context of the federal government's enhanced power to conduct secret investigations, including use of "National Security Letters," pen registers, and investigative authorities and techniques provided by the Patriot Act. Panelists will also consider the government's increased use of "black lists" by various government agencies, including the FAA's no-fly list. How does one get on a black list? How does one get off? The panel will also explore the explosion in use of classifications--Secret, Top Secret, Sensitive, etc.--to limit dissemination of information, both at the federal level and, more recently, at the state level. What are the costs of excessive classification? How can classification be limited to information that is truly sensitive and secret?
Panelists
Scott Armstrong, National Security Archive
Thomas R. Burke, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Kevin Bankston, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Moderator
TBA
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REGISTRATION
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RATES*
CFAC Members $65
Non-members $75
Full-time Students $40
To register, click on Pay Pal link, below, enter appropriate amount, and pay by VISA or MasterCard. (Note: You need NOT be a PayPal member to pay by PayPal, despite appearances to the contrary.) You'll receive an immediate confirmation by email. When you arrive at the Assembly, your name will be on a list of prepaid registrants.
Rather pay by check? Click
here for a printable registration form and mailing instructions.
Or call CFAC (415.460.5060) and give us your credit card and registration
info by phone.
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*Employees of CFAC member-newspapers or other member-organizations qualify for member-discounts. Fees include October 14 reception and October 15 lunch.
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Questions? Send us an email
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PROGRAM
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Map, hotels, and directions to Assembly