CalAware Today

Our Plan Is Legally Sound—Take Our Word for It

Government agencies have the right to insist that the advice their attorneys give them is privileged and thus need not be publicly released.  But as Liam Dillon notes in the Voice of San Diego, that's a poor argument to make once officials have said that their controversial proposal is perfectly legal—because their lawyer told them so in a written opinion.

Court Orders Police Shooters' Names Withheld

Despite case law and a California Attorney General's opinion to the contrary, the Long Beach police union got a local judge's order last week barring the city from releasing the names of officers involved in shootings, reports Victoria Kim in the Los Angeles Times:

CalAware Sues District on Records Copy Charges

Californians Aware (CalAware) filed a lawsuit in Contra Costa County Superior Court today, seeking an order prohibiting the Contra Costa Community College District from continuing its violation of the California Public Records Act (CPRA) by charging a fee for copies of district records that is well above the “direct cost of duplication,” the maximum fee the CPRA allows.

Editorial: Nonprofit Centers Need More Oversight

By Anne Lowe

After an audit of six regional nonprofit centers caring for the developmentally disabled last year found that the Department of Developmental Services provides too little oversight into the centers’ operations, some are calling for more transparency for these private centers.

Lawsuit Alleging Campus Rape May Be Unsealed

By Anne Lowe

A sealed civil case involving the alleged rape of a student at the University of the Pacific in Stockton may soon see the light of day, if a federal judge changes his mind.

Sonoma County Ordered to Release Pension Data

PUBLIC INFORMATION

By Anne Lowe

The Sonoma County Superior Court ruled Friday that pension information for thousands of county retirees is public information and must be released to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the public, but the Sonoma County Employees Retirement Association (SCERA)  said it will appeal the decision.

Editorial: Nonprofits Hide Major Ad Fund Sources

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – Political ads run by candidates for insurance commissioner illustrate perfectly a point the Los Angeles Times makes in an editorial: Determining whose contributions have funded the ads can difficult—and sometimes impossible—to accomplish.

City Won't Give State Controller Its Pay Data

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – The City of Orange has told the State Controller it will not provide W-2 information on its employees unless the state can prove its authority to release the figures.

Lawyer: Grand Jury Transcript Too 'Evil' to Unseal

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – The attorney for Nancy Garrido, who with her husband Phillip is charged with the kidnapping and rape of Jaycee Lee Dugard, is opposing efforts by the Sacramento Bee and other media organizations to force the release of sealed grand jury transcripts.

Paper to Report on Orange County Schools Pay

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – The Orange County Register announced Wednesday it will be issuing a series of reports detailing the compensation of nearly 72,000 employees in the county’s 27 school districts.

Court: Inspector General Investigations Not Public

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – The Office of the Inspector General is not required by the California Public Records Act to disclose its investigative files to the public, the California Court of Appeal ruled October 6, in an opinion ordered published Tuesday.

Court Stops Release of Garrido Parole Records

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – A California Public Records Act (CPRA) lawsuit to compel the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to release its investigative records into the inadequate parole supervision of accused sex slave kidnapper Phillip Garrido was ordered dismissed Wednesday.

Marine Life Agencies Ordered to Release Plans

Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – Two agencies charged with planning the implementation of the Marine Life Protection Act were ordered by a judge last week  to release their proposals for the South Coast Region of California.

L.A. Times Debuts Online Crime-Tracking Feature

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – The Los Angeles Times will now be using daily reports from local law enforcement agencies to create an online database that maps and analyzes crime in Los Angeles County.

Feel-Good Bill Signed to Cure a Non-Problem

PUBLIC INFORMATION – A bill allowing the families of murdered children to request that the autopsy reports be sealed was signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Monday, but these reports are already treated as confidential.

Alameda Sued for E-mails on Development Deal

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – The City of Alameda has beeen sued for failing to respond to a Public Records Act request that sought e-mail messages pertaining to a contract with a real estate developer; the city's policy is that all e-mails are exempt as "drafts" until they are periodically and routinely destroyed on a wholesale basis.

L.A. County Stalls Naming the Quarter Million Club

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – Los Angeles County is stalling a Public Records Act request for information on county employees earning more than $250,000 per year, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Blythe Overdue in Providing Salary Information

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – A request for information on the salaries and benefits of Blythe city employees has gone without disclosure for more than a month, the Palo Verde Valley Times reports.

PG&E: Disclosing Major Gas Line Routes Too Risky

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is refusing to release details about high-risk areas of its pipeline system due to security concerns, the Bay Citizen reported last week. But the Sacramento Bee reported Sunday that large gas mains underlie several neighborhoods in the state capital "like shadow interstates," including its downtown.

Update:  The company, bending to public pressure, has disclosed 100 of its highest-risk pipeline locations.

Sierra Club Appeals Limit to Parcel Map Database

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – A judge's decision granting Orange County an exemption from the California Public Records Act for its computerized parcel map system is headed for the Court of Appeal.

Complaint Disclosures Trigger Abrupt Retirement

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – An elementary school principal in Morgan Hill announced his resignation Tuesday after his school district's response to a Public Records Act request revealed at least 11 valid complaints against him in the past two years, reports the Morgan Hill Times.

Judge: CalPERS Must Release Investment Records

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION  – Documentation of a failed investment by the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) must now be released to the public, a San Francisco judge has ordered.

Pentagon May Buy, Destroy 10,000 Memoir Copies

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION – The first run of an Afghanistan spy-war memoir scheduled for a September 24 release could be sold out before it ever reaches bookstore shelves—with just one buyer.

Bill to Open Nonprofits' Books on Governor's Desk

By Anne Lowe

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- State college and university auxiliary organizations could soon be subject to public records laws if a bill amending the Public Records Act is approved by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by Sept. 30.

Comment: WikiLeaks—an Irritant without Impact

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- Steven Aftergood, whose Secrecy News blog tracks federal resistance to transparency, has called into question the ethics and motivations of WikiLeaks, the weebsite dedicated to outing information governments and other powerful institutions want to keep hidden.  As Aftergood noted Monday, one of the nation's chief sources of foundation support for innovative online efforts to open government in the public interest has declined to give WikiLeaks a grant.

Palin on Scrutiny by Students, A.G.: Get a Life

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- "Sarah Palin leveled criticism at California’s attorney general and others raising questions about her visit to a cash-strapped university, telling supporters that students had better things to do than dive through Dumpsters to find out how much she earns speaking," reports Garance Burke for the Associated Press.  The university's foundation, which sponsored the event, said the net proceeds were $200,000.  But despite a lawsuit the university has never released records of its costs.

First Amendment No Shield for Petitioners' Names

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- "In a case triggered in part by the battle over same-sex marriage in California, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that disclosing the names of people who signed initiative petitions generally did not violate their right to free speech," reports Kathleen Hennessey in the Los Angeles Times. The decision will have little effect in California, where the names of those who petition to put measures on the ballot for an initiative or referendum or to recall public officials are exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Act.

ACLU Wants Name of Deputy Who Shot Fugitive

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- The refusal by Sonoma County's sheriff  to release the name of a deputy who shot and killed a man following a high-speed chase two weeks ago is being challenged by the local ACLU, reports Randi Rossmann of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

State's Science Center Settles Records Lawsuit

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- The California Science Center (CSC), a public agency, has agreed to settle a lawsuit with the pro-intelligent design Discovery Institute and release records that it previously sought to conceal regarding its cancellation of the screening of a pro-intelligent design film last year, reports Evolution News & Views.

Most Records in Child Murder Case to Be Unsealed

PUBLIC INFORMATION -- The Associated Press reports that a judge agreed Monday to unseal files in the case of a Sunday school teacher who was sentenced to life in prison for murdering a young girl whose body was found in a suitcase.