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.
In what was later termed a "misunderstanding," reporters and relatives of a man charged with murdering a California sheriff's deputy were literally locked out of his arraignment on Wednesday, The Sacramento Bee reported.
Marco Topete is accused in the fatal shooting of a Yolo County deputy during a high-speed chase last week.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) told Congress today that the U.S. government isn't doing enough to protect the privacy of the information it collects on people. But the GAO is missing the bigger point: The government should not be able to keep information secret if it is the basis for official action or new policies.
Despite 20 years of compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, a federal judge ruled Monday that the White House's Office of Administration is not subject to FOIA and can withhold internal paperwork on the disappearance of thousands of e-mail messages.
The United States Small Business Association (SBA) must reveal the names of businesses to which it provides government contracts, U.S. District Judge Marilyn H. Patel ruled Tuesday.
Editor's note (5/22): The New Jersey Senate Bill regarding confidential settlement agreements was not inspired solely by the parole board case. Sen. Nia H. Gill proposed the bill to correct the larger problem of secret settlements within New Jersey state government.
The New Jersey Senate is expected to vote on a measure Thursday that would ensure that “public entities” in the state could not enter into confidential agreements to settle claims to which the entity or the entity’s employee is a party.
Embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick revealed to city employees last week a policy, which he implemented last month, making private all text messages from publicly-funded devices. The policy, which took effect on April 15, will prevent the public from accessing messages and pages under the Freedom of Information Act.
An attorney testified during a city council inquiry today that embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s lawyer acted to evade a public records request from the Detroit Free Press.
Judge Vincent Gaughan has determined that R&B singer R. Kelly’s child pornography hearing will be closed and the filed motions will be kept under seal.
The presiding judge has sealed an unknown number of documents and has additionally restricted lawyers to talk to the public only about the basic details of the case.
The presidential candidates, Congress, the media and individual citizens all have a duty to ensure an open government, said Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley during a speech Tuesday night at the National Press Club.
"We must do more because the entrenched powers have become far more determined to avoid public scrutiny when it matters most," he told those gathered.
Nearly nine out of 10 Americans say knowing presidential and congressional candidates’ positions on open government is important, and three out of four say the government is secretive, according to a survey released March 16.
More than 1,000 adults participated in the phone survey, conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio State University to build up to this week’s Sunshine Week.
