Obama should just say ‘No’ to aides who, worried about FOIA, say he must give up beloved Blackberry

By Peter Scheer

Of his two known addictions--cigarettes and a Blackberry--Barack Obama is reported to have given up only one since he became President-elect. And it’s not cigarettes.

Like most chief executives his age, Obama during the presidential campaign was visibly tethered to his cell phone, its text and email functions allowing him to receive news and advice unfiltered by political handlers (much to their frustration). Obama’s Blackberry was his means of piercing the communications bubble…

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CFAC and MAPLight sue for public access to state’s legislative database

The California First Amendment Coalition filed suit today against the Legislative Counsel’s office in Sacramento. With our co-petitioner, MAPLight.org, we are seeking a copy of California’s full legislative database--the texts of bills, amendments, votes, dates, etc.---for all legislation.

Although the public currently can access this info one bill at a time through the state’s official website, that does not allow computer-assisted analysis of the data. MAPLight’s service, for example, highlights the influence of money on the legislative process by…

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Prop 8’s victory, reinstating ban on same sex marriage, is big loss for California Supreme Court, but damage not irreparable

By Peter Scheer

Although its name did not even appear on the ballot, the California Supreme Court was perhaps the state’s biggest loser in Tuesday’s historic elections. The voters’ narrow approval of Proposition 8 effectively reverses the high Court’s controversial decision, earlier this year, extending the right to marry to same-sex couples.

The Court knew the risks.  The statute it declared unconstitutional in In re Marriage Cases was itself the result of a state…

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Disclosure--or the lack of it--is a major cause of the current financial crisis

By Peter Scheer

Economists and historians will be debating for years the causes of the financial crisis that, like a global array of dominoes, now threatens to take down the “real” economies of countries big and small, both “developed” and “emerging,” in a massive flight from investment risk unlike anything experienced since 1929.

To the experts’ lists of causes, let me add a lack of information--specifically, the systemic failure of lenders to disclose ample information about the risks of the mortgage…

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CFAC announces awards to FOES and friends of free speech, open government. “Darkness Awards” zap Orange County judge, Capistrano school board, San Bernardino assessor

The California First Amendment Coalition has named the 2008 recipients of its “Darkness Award,” given in recognition of conduct that thwarts freedom of speech and the public’s right to know.  The awards, to be presented Saturday, October 18 at UC Berkeley, are given to:

-- Orange County Superior Court Judge David C. Velasquez, who attempted to bar the Orange County Register from covering public testimony in a lawsuit against the paper. His…

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New state law adds protections for anonymous online speech

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill that greatly strengthens the right to anonymous speech online.  Assembly Bill 2433 raises procedural obstacles to out-of-state companies that subpoena California-based internet service providers for the IDs of anonymous posters. Unless there is a demonstrable basis for the underlying lawsuit, the subpoena will be thrown out and attorney’s fees charged to the out-of-state company.

Corynne McSherry of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (one of the co-sponsors of the bill) explains:

One of the most pernicious threats to anonymity…

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LA Times editorial backs CFAC suit against State Bar

The LA Times, in its lead editorial in today’s newspaper, endorsed CFAC’s lawsuit (filed together with UCLA Professor Richard Sander) to force the California State Bar to make available records needed for Sander’s research on affirmative action in law schools.  CFAC’s mission is to provide access--subject to strict confidentiality guarantees--to both Sander and to other researchers who disagree with him.-PS

Los Angeles Times:
Affirmative action and the bar exam
A California professor studying affirmative action should have access to…

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