CalAware Today

Judge: Animal Experiment Details Can Stay Secret

UCLA's news service reports that a judge has ruled that the California Public Records Act does not compel the university to release detailed information on animal experiments done by particular researchers, in light of prior such disclosures that were followed by violence targeting those whose research protocols were revealed to animial rights activists.

New Legal Guide for Online News, Opinion Writers

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has just posted on its website a legal guide for those who regularly report and comment online—whether they think of themselves as journalists or not. "If you are gathering and disseminating news and information in any medium, this guide is for you. It will be as useful to bloggers as to a staff reporter at a national newspaper," says the introduction.

Racist Talk Withheld to Protect Slain BART Rider

The Oakland Fire Department is refusing to release copies of taped conversations it originally said didn't happen, in which its personnel at staff meetings allegedly used racial slurs to refer to the man shot and killed as he lay prone and unarmed in an Oakland Bay Area Rapid Transit stationi platform in 2009.  The department says the tape is being withheld to protect the man's privacy, according to a report posted by IndyBay Media.  The tapes are being sought by fire department paramedic who blew the whistle on the allegedly racist discussions and says he's been subjected to retailiatory discipline.