What state universities pay their vendors is a core matter of public concern. Redacting financial terms from government contracts violates both the spirit and the letter of FOI law. https://www.cm-life.com/article/2021/10/chartwells-contract
Virginia school district sues to "claw back" documents inadvertently included in FOIA response, and demands that they be "unpublished" from a local mom's blog.
Va. school board sues moms after docs 'inadvertently and mistakenly' released through FOIA request
A Virginia school board is suing two mothers, arguing that documents "inadvertently and mistakenly" released through a...
www.foxnews.com
Just 14% of survey respondents tell Freedom Forum that they believe journalists are trustworthy. The survey results point toward a need for schools and colleges to practice, as well as teach, First Amendment values and principles.
4 First Amendment ‘Where America Stands’ findings that surprised experts (and 3 that didn’t) | Freedom Forum
The Freedom Forum’s newly released “The First Amendment: Where America Stands” survey gives a deep and...
www.freedomforum.org
A small win for transparency, but we'll take it 💪
NJ's largest school district finally shared its COVID case count after @ChalkbeatNWK reported on lack of info. Now board members are pushing the district to post the data online.
75 Newark district students tested positive for COVID since reopening
Just 75 of the roughly 37,000 students in Newark Public Schools have tested positive since classes began Sept. 7, officials said.
newark.chalkbeat.org
Useful research about how states adapted their open-meeting laws to "Zoom world," and how the public's need for access is (or isn't) being accommodated. https://targethiv.org/planning-chatt/state-laws-remote-meetings
Can law school clinics challenge government gag orders that prevent employees from speaking to journalists? @KathF @gregg_leslie @MichaelLinhorst & @FrankLoMonte explore potential collaborations this Saturday at #AAC2021
cc @ASULawFAC @BrechnerCenter @YaleLawSch @craignewmark
NY's new governor is being pressed to release more granular COVID data, including locations of fatalities and demographics of positive tests, that Cuomo administration withheld.
Advocates and Journalists Push Hochul to Release Troves of Covid Data
Gov. Hochul (photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul) A coalition of advocacy groups is pushing Governor ...
www.gothamgazette.com
Parents are being told not to share information even with other parents when COVID cases hit their children's classrooms.
Newark won’t share school COVID data, fueling uncertainty
Even as COVID forces students to quarantine, Newark’s traditional and charter schools are limiting who gets noti...
newark.chalkbeat.org
Law students with an interest in media law: Apply by Oct. 1 for this amazing networking and career-building opportunity through the ABA's Forum on Communications Law. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/communications_law/initiatives_awards/mootcourt/
Encouraging early signs out of Colorado that requiring police agencies to promptly release body-cam video of violent interactions with the public can be part of reforming the culture of policing.
What the Rest of America Can Learn From Colorado
One year after widespread protests, state reforms have brought accountability to policing, if not an end to brutality.
www.theatlantic.com