Everything online journalists need to protect their legal rights. This free resource culls from all Reporters Committee resources and includes exclusive content on digital media law issues.
Marken v. Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a letter brief in support of California resident Michael Chwe's petition to the California Supreme Court for review of a lower court ruling allowing a public employee who is the subject of a public records request to preemptively file a lawsuit challenging an agency's decision to release the record. If such a ruling is allowed to stand, it will have the effect of reversing the presumption of public access to records in the state by forcing the public to demonstrate at the outset why a particular record should be disclosed. It will also increase the chances a requester will have to litigate in order to receive records and jeopardizes his ability to recover attorneys' fees and costs under the law.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a letter brief in support of California resident Michael Chwe's petition to the California Supreme Court for review of a lower court ruling allowing a public employee who is the subject of a public records request to preemptively file a lawsuit challenging an agency's decision to release the record. If such a ruling is allowed to stand, it will have the effect of reversing the presumption of public access to records in the state by forcing the public to demonstrate at the outset why a particular record should be disclosed. It will also increase the chances a requester will have to litigate in order to receive records and jeopardizes his ability to recover attorneys' fees and costs under the law.