Keyword: open meetings
Items: 34 (2 pages)
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Pennsylvania · August 12, 2010 · Freedom of information
Pennsylvania school district violated open meetings law
A Pennsylvania school district violated the state’s open meetings law last year when it held a meeting with local business owners to discuss litigation behind closed doors, a state appellate court ruled last week.
A three-judge appellate court panel ruled on Aug. 5 that the Highlands school board’s nonpublic meeting last June with local shopping center representatives to discuss a property tax assessment appeal did not fall under the open meetings law exemption that protects the private discussion of litigation strategy with a party’s attorney, since the shopping center representatives were opposing litigants.
“The meeting appears to have provided the Shopping Center a private audience with the Board or an opportunity to lobby the Board to support its position on the tax question,” Judge Patricia A. McCullough wrote in the decision. “[M]eeting with a taxpayer in this circumstance has the ‘odor of favoritism’ that the Sunshine Act does not tolerate.”
The case began when a reporter for the Valley News Dispatch . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 5:50 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK California · April 26, 2010 · State open government
Independent journalist ejected from state 'advisory' meeting
An independent journalist was forcibly removed from the California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative meeting after he asked a question about the Initiative’s position on ocean industrialization, the First Amendment Coalition reported.
David Gurney was removed by security from the Fort Bragg, Calif. meeting, during which officials were designating “Marine Protected Areas.” He had previously attempted to . . . [more]
— Cristina Abello, 6:24 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK Mississippi · March 9, 2010 · State open government
Missississippi House alters, passes revision to open meetings law
The director of Mississippi's ethics commission told The Associated Press that a revision to the state's open meetings law passed by the House on Thursday had been watered down from its original version.
The legislation was approved 97-22 after a provision that established a formal process for nullifying any decision made in violation of open meetings laws was removed. An amendment that mirrors one passed by the state Senate, which would require individual violators to pay fines and not . . . [more]
— Curry Andrews, 5:57 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Washington · February 25, 2010 · State open government
Washington city settles with local paper in open meetings suit
The City of Tacoma has settled out of court with a Washington newspaper after the city was accused of violating the state's open meetings laws, The News Tribune reported.
The City of Tacoma recently paid The News Tribune $7,500 for attorney's fees after it allegedly appointed two City Council members in closed meetings. The payment marked the end of the lawsuit.
— Curry Andrews, 6:10 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Mississippi · February 18, 2010 · Freedom of information
Series to highlight government secrecy in Mississippi
The Mississippi Press Association, The Associated Press and the Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information have teamed up for a third year to write a series on what they call the “culture of secrecy” that surrounds open meetings and records laws in the state and those who are making effort to strengthen government transparency, the AP reported.
Advocates say the establishment of a state Ethics Commission in 2008 that handles open meetings disputes has helped transparency efforts but there is still room for improvement. In one of its first cases, the commission ruled that the Transportation Commission violated the state's Open Meetings law when a quorum of its members discussed funding for a highway interchange at a private dinner. Commissioner Bill Minor denied wrongdoing in an article by the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
But Dick Hall, the traffic commissioner who did not attend the dinner and reported the infringement, told the AP that the open meetings law has “no teeth” because penalties for violations are paid from . . . [more]
— Nadia Tamez-Robledo, 6:21 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Texas · February 3, 2010 · State open government
Texas attorney general says no constitutional rights for cities
Four Texas cities that filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the state's open meetings law infringes on their right to free speech must withdraw as plaintiffs because government agencies cannot have their First Amendment rights violated, the state attorney general argued yesterday, according to the Associated Press.
Fifteen individual elected officials and the cities of Pfugerville, Rockport, Alpine and Wichita Falls filed suit against the State of . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 7:19 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK Wyoming · January 12, 2010 · State open government
Wyoming high court sides with newspaper in open meetings suit
The Wyoming Supreme Court sided with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle last week in a lawsuit over whether a building code appeals board improperly held a secret meeting to decide whether to issue demolition permits for six historic homes, The Associated Press reported.
Cheyenne Newspapers, Inc., the parent company of the Eagle, sued the Cheyenne Building Code Board of Appeals in 2008 asking the court to block the board from making a decision before public deliberations on the matter was open to public . . . [more]
— Amanda Becker, 5:24 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Texas · December 14, 2009 · State open government
Texas public officials file suit to overturn open meetings law
Public officials throughout the state of Texas filed a lawsuit Monday to overturn the state's open meetings law, claiming the provision that bars officials from meeting in secret violates their right to free speech.
More than 20 elected officials and a dozen cities across the state, including Pflugerville, Rockport, and Alpine, have signed onto the lawsuit against the State of Texas and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, which was filed in federal court today . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 5:17 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK Georgia · December 11, 2009 · State open government
Georgia's House Republican caucus votes to kick out press
Republican legislators in Georgia voted today in a secret ballot to close the doors and keep the press out of an open caucus meeting.
Atlanta's NBC affiliate reported that the meeting was called to discuss filling former Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson's position. Richardson resigned after news of "an affair with a lobbyist, an attempted suicide, and an ex-wife’s retribution," . . . [more]
— Ansley Schrimpf, 5:44 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK Texas · December 4, 2009 · State open government
Texas Municipal League says no jail for open meetings law violations
The Texas Municipal League, the lobbying arm of the state's cities, has endorsed a proposal to remove jail time from the list of punishments that can follow violations of Texas' Open Meetings Act, the Waco Tribune reported.
The resolution, which the league may pursue when it lobbies during the next legislative session, follows a lawsuit filed by dozens of Texas cities that challenges the state’s Open . . . [more]
— Amanda Becker, 3:43 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Texas · November 23, 2009 · State open government
More Texas public officials will sue to conduct business in secret
Yet another Texas municipality has signed onto a lawsuit that challenges the state’s Open Meetings Act and seeks to do away with criminal sanctions for elected officials who conduct public business behind closed doors.
The city of Rockport voted Nov. 3 to join at least a dozen other cities, including Pflugerville and Alpine, in the suit expected to be filed before the first of the year.
The Texas public officials are arguing that the state's open meetings law, which prevents a quorum of government officials . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 5:21 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Texas · October 15, 2009 · Freedom of information
Texas officials to file second suit over meetings act
Texas public officials are arguing for the second time this year that the state's Open Meetings Act violates their right to free speech. At least 20 elected officials from cities across the state have signed onto a potential lawsuit, including the mayor and four city council members in Pflugerville, the Austin American Statesman reported.
The act in question prevents a quorum of government officials from deliberating in secret and attaches a penalty of up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.
Rod Ponton, who represents the elected officials, told the Austin American Statesman the new suit against the State of Texas and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott will be filed in federal court next month in the West Texas city of Pecos.
The Fifth Circuit dismissed a similar suit last month because the plaintiffs, Alpine city council members who were no . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 5:52 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Oklahoma · October 1, 2009 · State open government
Eight officials charged with violating Oklahoma's open meetings law
Eight county officials in Oklahoma have been charged with 38 violations of the state's Open Meetings Act, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
Five members of the Okmulgee County Criminal Trust Authority and the county's sheriff, police chief and commissioner are charged with taking unauthorized votes, not recording votes and failing to give notice of action taken, among other misdemeanor violations of Oklahoma's Open Meetings Act.
Oklahoma is one of a handful of states that attaches criminal . . . [more]
— Kirk Davis, 5:30 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE 5th Cir. · September 10, 2009 · Freedom of information
Open meetings law stands in 5th Cir.
The Texas Open Meetings Act remains good law after withstanding a constitutional challenge by former city council members who asserted the law violated their rights to exchange e-mail messages discussing city business in secret.
After four years of litigation, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Dallas (5th Cir.) dismissed the case today as moot. Although both Alpine, Texas, councilors' terms had ended, Avinash Rangra remained an active plaintiff in the case. Sixteen judges held Rangra lacked the proper standing to sue.
The only judge who dissented in the vote was Judge James L. Dennis, who authored an earlier panel decision holding that open meetings laws must pass a higher constitutional threshold to remain good law and that elected officials should receive full First Amendment protection of speech pursuant to their official duties. That panel decision was vacated when the entire court agreed to review the case.
Dennis wrote that the full court's dismissal of the case as moot is "incorrect, injudicious and result oriented." He said that although Rangra was no longer on city council, . . . [more]
— Corinna Zarek, 6:00 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE 5th Cir. · September 3, 2009 · Freedom of information
Reporters Committee urges upholding open meetings law
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press today urged the entire 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the constitutionality of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
In a first-of-its-kind decision earlier this year, a three-judge panel of that court found that because the law restricted certain elected officials from communicating about public business in secret, it violated their First Amendment rights. The Reporters Committee's friend-of-the-court brief, joined by 23 other news media organizations, pointed out to the court that open meetings laws like the one in Texas are actually further the First Amendment rights of citizens by assuirng they have access to and . . . [more]
— Posted at 5:39 pm · Comments: 0
COMMENTARY 5th Cir. · July 30, 2009 · Freedom of information
Court will re-hear Texas open meetings law case
A federal appellate court rightly decided this week to re-hear a case on the constitutionality of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans (5th Cir.) took the unusual and laudable step of granting a petition for en banc review, meaning the full court will now consider a case that a three-judge panel of the court previously decided.
The Texas Attorney General’s office asked the court to reconsider its previous ruling in Rangra v. Brown, which said the Open Meetings Act infringed on elected officials' free speech rights by making it a crime for a quorum of them to discuss government business outside of a public meeting.
The plaintiffs in the case -- two city councilors from Alpine, Texas -- were indicted on allegations that they violated the open meetings law for exchanging e-mail messages about city business. The indictments were . . . [more]
— Hannah Bergman, 4:37 pm · View reader comments (1)
QUICKLINK Hawaii · July 28, 2009 · State open government
Hawaii County Council must fix meetings violation before acting
The Hawaii County Council will be legally barred from taking official government actions if it does not remedy an open meeting violation by Aug. 5, The Associated Press reported Monday.
In a lawsuit brought by West Hawaii Today, Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra found that a quorum of the council violated the state's Sunshine Law by holding private talks about a plan to reorganize itself. Ibarra said a temporary restraining order was required to prevent irreparable harm to the public's interest, according to the . . . [more]
— Lucas Tanglen, 5:08 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Massachusetts · June 26, 2009 · Freedom of information
Massachusetts ethics reform bill amends open meetings law
The Massachusetts Legislature passed an overhaul of the state’s ethics laws Thursday, which supporters lauded as much-needed reform.
But the bill, now before Gov. Deval Patrick, weakens further what were already weak penalties in the state’s open meetings law.
The Patriot-Ledger, in Quincy, editorialized against it Friday, saying the current law only contains a $1,000 fine against a . . . [more]
— Hannah Bergman, 6:22 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK U.S. · May 22, 2009 · Freedom of information
White House solicits open government suggestions on Web
The White House has launched a Web site in response to President Obama's Transparency and Open Government memorandum, calling for suggestions from the public on open government policy.
The Open Government Initiative site outlines a process that begins with gathering suggestions, followed by online discussions leading to a wiki-style drafting of recommendations for the Open Government Directive called for by Obama. Recommendations can be . . . [more]
— Lucas Tanglen, 12:48 pm · View reader comments (17)
QUICKLINK New York · May 15, 2009 · Freedom of information
New York governor vetoes stiff open meeting penalties
New York Gov. David Paterson has shot down a plan to boost enforcement provisions of the state's open meetings law, in particular by setting up fines of up to $500 for government bodies that violate it, Newsday reports.
Paterson explained his veto as stemming from technical faults with the legislation: "The most problematic aspect of the bill is that civil penalties would be imposed upon local governments, which means taxpayers would ultimately be . . . [more]
— Kathleen Cullinan, 6:00 pm · View reader comments (1)
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