CalAware Today

Court: Buried 'Metadata' Part of the Public Record

OPEN GOVERNMENT -- Are metadata—the subsurface but accessible traces as to the sources, dissemination, editing and other textual history of a Microsoft Word document—part of the public record that must be disclosed under the California Public Records Act?  A Deputy San Francisco City Attorney has been saying No—release Word documents only as inert pdfs. But now Arizona's Supreme Court, for what it's worth, has ruled to the contrary.

AG Taping Should Cool Probe of ACORN Watchdogs

FREE PRESS -- Today's disclosure that a press spokesman for Attorney General Jerry Brown routinely and secretly recorded phone discussions with journalists should disable Brown's Justice Department from prosecuting self-appointed investigators who secretly videotaped their bogus consultation with a San Bernardino ACORN office staffer about getting help setting up a prostitution enterprise.

New Judicial Branch Rules, New Calls for Scrutiny

OPEN GOVERNMENT  -- With 5 p.m. Friday set as the deadline for submitting comments on proposed new rules providing public access to administrative records of judicial branch agencies, legislative scrutiny of statewide court administration is reaching an unprecedented pitch this week.

More Censure for (Alleged) Short Women Remarks

FREE SPEECH -- Political incorrectness has again landed an elected local board member in trouble with his peers, reports Tom Lochner in the Contra Costa Times.  And again, the taboo comments under censure concern the physical capacity of shorter women to be firefighters.

Norwegians' Personal Wealth Open for All to See

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- For those who think that disclosure of what California's government workers are paid—name by name—is a troubling invasion of privacy, San Francisco open government watchdog Kimo Crossman points out an Associated Press report of a much more radical sunshine policy in the law of Norway.

Four Profs Suspended after Budget Cuts Protest

FREE SPEECH -- "On Thursday, several hundred students at Southwestern College, a community college outside of San Diego, held a peaceful protest over budget cuts that are leading to the cancellation of more than 400 additional course sections next semester," reports Scott Jaschik in Inside Higher Ed. "On Friday, the students got a sign that someone was paying attention to the protest, but they didn't get the response they wanted: Four faculty members were immediately suspended and barred from the campus for using the campus e-mail system."

Comment: Time to Clarify Dangerous Old Spy Law

FREE SPEECH/FREE PRESS -- "In May, federal prosecutors made the dramatic announcement that they were abandoning their prosecution under the Espionage Act of two former American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbyists for disclosing classified information," observe Washington, D.C. attorneys Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, defendants in the case, writing in the National Law Journal. They say their experience is a clear example of how dangerous the World War I era Espionage Act can be to the political speech of private citizens—or the work of journalists.

Court: Windshield Fliers Can't Be Outlawed

FREE SPEECH -- "Tucking a fitness club flier or a restaurant discount coupon onto the windshield of a vacant vehicle in Carlsbad might net you a $100 fine if police were enforcing the city's anti-handbill distribution ordinance," notes Barbara Henry in the North County Times. "But that ordinance may soon be repealed, thanks to a recent federal appeals court decision."

Proposal for Access to Court Admin Information: 4

OPEN GOVERNMENT – This is the fourth of four segments analyzing the proposed new rules on public access to the administrative records of the California court system.  The proposals are open for public comment now through October 29, and the final product, to be adopted by the California Judicial Council, will take effect January 1.

OPEN GOVERNMENT – This is the fourth of four segments analyzing the proposed new rules on public access to the administrative records of the California court system.  The proposals are open for public comment now through October 29, and the final product, to be adopted by the California Judicial Council, will take effect January 1.

Pluses/Minuses of Proposed Court Records Rules

OPEN GOVERNMENT -- The rules that are proposed to provide public access to administrative records showing how the judicial branch and its individual courts are run are modeled on those governing other state and local agencies under the California Public Records Act (CPRA).  But there are significantly greater opportunities for secrecy.

Proposal for Access to Court Admin Information: 3

OPEN GOVERNMENT – This is the third of four segments analyzing the proposed new rules on public access to the administrative records of the California court system.  The proposals are open for public comment now through October 29, and the final product, to be adopted by the California Judicial Council, will take effect January 1.

OPEN GOVERNMENT – This is the third of four segments analyzing the proposed new rules on public access to the administrative records of the California court system.  The proposals are open for public comment now through October 29, and the final product, to be adopted by the California Judicial Council, will take effect January 1.

Proposal for Access to Court Admin Information: 2

OPEN GOVERNMENT – This is the second of four segments analyzing the proposed new rules on public access to the administrative records of the California court system.  The proposals are open for public comment now through October 29, and the final product, to be adopted by the California Judicial Council, will take effect January 1.

Proposal for Access to Court Admin Information: 1

OPEN GOVERNMENT – This is the first of four segments analyzing the proposed new rules on public access to the administrative records of the California court system.  The proposals are open for public comment now through October 29, and the final product, to be adopted by the California Judicial Council, will take effect January 1.

Governor's Final Bill Actions: A Net Serious Loss

Public Forum Law -- Governor Schwarzenegger's end-of-session actions on legislative bills over the weekend represent a loss to open government and whistleblower protection not offset by a few good results.

Overview: Court Proposals on Information Access

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- For the first time, California's judicial branch is set to adopt a comprehensive set of rules on public access to its administrative records, including but not limited to those showing how the courts obtain and spend their money.  Today we provide general background for the four segments of proposed Rules of Court 10.500 and 10.501 that we will examine here in the next few days. The proposals are open to public comment through October 29 and will be adopted as court rules in some form by the California Judicial Council, to be effective January 1.

Governor's Game Could Kill Valuable Reforms

OPEN GOVERNMENT, WHISTLEBLOWERS -- "With the Sunday deadline fast approaching, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed only three of the over 700 bills on his desk," reports the California Newspaper Publishers Association's Legislative Bulletin. "While a bit coy regarding his intentions on the fate of the Legislature’s entire work product from the 2009 session, the threat of a blanket veto may prove an effective lever on the water deal that eluded Schwarzenegger and legislators in the waning days of the legislative session."  On the other hand, the report notes, such a hostage standoff could kill several valuable bills in the open government, free press and whistleblower protection zone that Californians Aware calls public forum law.

Ethics Panel Sued for Withholding Complaint Data

OPEN GOVERNMENT -- In a lawsuit filed Monday in San Francisco Superior Court, open government advocate Allen Grossman charges that the city's Ethics Commission suppressed public records relating to its consistent failure to enforce violations of state and local open government laws.

Former Court PIO: O.J. Trial Cost Camera Access

OPEN COURTS/FREE PRESS -- "Fourteen years ago today—shock and awe. After 16 tawdry months of the Simpson case wallpapering the public square, a Los Angeles criminal court jury found O.J. Simpson not guilty of the hideous murders of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ron Goldman," recalls Patt Morrison in the Los Angeles Times, introducing her interview with the former court public information officer who's written a book about her experiences with the media in that episode.

Stem Cell Research Data May Not Be Disclosed

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- A subcommittee of the board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)—the state's stem cell research agency— today unanimously approved a $300,000 economic impact study of the agency's work by a firm that is expected to “execute a vibrant and aggressive strategy” supporting CIRM, but in a manner not all that transparent, notes the California Stem Cell Report.

Draft: Access to Courts' Housekeeping Records

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- You have until October 29 to let the California court system know, in writing, what you think of its proposed new rules on public access to its administrative records; some version will go into effect January 1.

L.A.'s D.A: We Work to Get Brown Act Compliance

OPEN MEETINGS – Kenneth Ofgang reports in the Metropolitan News-Enterprise, Los Angeles that District Attorney Steve Cooley and two top deputies said last week that their office aggressively enforces the state’s open meetings law for local public agencies with an aim of gaining compliance, not to punish anyone or entangle itself in local politics.

Editor: 'Mad As Hell' Ethos Fits Los Angeles Too

OPEN MEETINGS -- "Facing the public is becoming more precarious by the day for our electeds . . . and, if pollster and advisor Frank Luntz is right there is no let-up in sight," says CityWatch LA editor Ken Draper.

O.C. Register's Owner in Bankruptcy: Shhhh . . .

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- Mary Ann Milbourn, reporting for the Orange County Register, says the newspaper's parent corporation, Freedom Communications Inc., "is throwing up roadblocks in its bankruptcy case by designating more than 1 million documents as confidential, including a Dodgers baseball game schedule and poetry," according to the unsecured creditors committee in a court filing in Delaware Friday.

One-Day "Camp" on Putting Public Data to Work

OPEN GOVERNMENT -- An all-day "Data Camp & DataSF App Contest"—for $10 including dinner—will welcome developers, journalists, community organizers, policy wonks, students and "others interested in working with government data to provide insights and information into California and its communities," in San Francisco on Saturday, November 7, the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) has announced.

Editorial: Why a Secretive Police Review Board?

OPEN GOVERNMENT -- "What's the point of subjecting complaints about the police to the review of an independent civilian board," asks an editorial in the Redding Record Searchlight, "if the vast majority of civilians—that is, the general public—can't learn the result?"

FBI Ordered to Release More from Its Lennon File

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- Jonathan Wiener, a U.C. Irvine history professor, scored a recent victory when Los Angeles U.S. District Judge Robert Takasugi ruled that the FBI must release to him 10 pages of documents gathered from its investigation in the early 1970s of Beatle John Lennon, reports Ben Ritter for New University, the UCI campus newspaper.

"Cyberbullying" Bill Gets Cool Congressional Debut

FREE SPEECH -- A California Congresswoman's proposed legislation demanding up to two years in prison for electronic speech meant to “coerce, intimidate, harass or cause substantial emotional distress to a person” was met with little enthusiasm by a House subcommittee last Wednesday, reports David Kravits for Wired magazine.