Brechner News

Posted: June 5, 2019

Rachael Jones and Imani Jackson will join the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, located in the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, as legal fellows. Their one-year fellowships will begin this summer. Jones will publish the Brechner Report, post content to the Bechner website, and assist Brechner Center Director Frank LoMonte with amicus briefs. She is currently a senior law clerk to Judge Scott D. Makar of the First District Court of Appeal for the State of Florida. She has worked as a fellow at the Center for Media Law and Policy at UNC-Chapel Hill and the…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Imani Jackson, Rachael Jones

Posted: May 23, 2019

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “Last-Minute Amendment Makes Florida Felon Voting Records Confidential” published in the Daytona Beach News-Journal on May 21. The article focuses on new legislation that prevents the public from seeing felon voting restoration records. The amendment protects felons from harassment, but it also makes it difficult to track the progress of a new constitutional amendment that restored felon voting rights. “State and local agencies don’t have to turn over statistics or demographics if they don’t compile them,” LoMonte said. “If they…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: May 21, 2019

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “How to Deal with Obstructive Public Information Officers? Challenge Them” published in the Columbia Journalism Review on May 20. The article focuses on the illegality of blanket no-interview policies by Public Information Officers (PIOs) at government agencies. According to LoMonte, PIOs are deployed by both public and private entities to control journalists’ inquiries and the practice is illegal. “In almost every corner, [reporters] on the beat see that people are forbidden from speaking to reporters,” LoMonte said. “It’s a recurring…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Columbia Journalism Review, Frank LoMonte

Posted: May 21, 2019

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in an April 1 deadspin.com story about New England Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft’s attempt to block the release of an allegedly incriminating video. In the article, lawyers for Kraft are trying to make a case that Florida’s public records law violates the Fourth Amendment. However, Florida’s constitution strongly endorses public records. “The starting point in Florida is that any place the government captures information—which could be a spreadsheet, an email, a text message or a videotape—is available for the public to…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: April 15, 2019

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “College Admissions Scandal: Will the Students Stay in School? Colleges Don’t Have to Say” published in USA Today on April 12. LoMonte comments on the celebrity admissions-bribery scandal and whether federal privacy laws do (or should) prevent colleges from discussing enrollment issues about identifiable students, even when there’s a high-profile matter of controversy. According to LoMonte, colleges are sometimes crystal clear in their punishments if the incident is high-profile enough. He cites University of Oklahoma President David Boren who in…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte, USA Today

Posted: April 9, 2019

The University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications announced today that the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information has been awarded $125,000 from the Hearst Foundations for the Center’s “Data Deserts” initiative. The initiative, which will be named the Hearst Data Deserts Project, is intended to improve the quality of civic data by spotlighting the deficiencies in information-gathering and developing public-policy solutions.  By putting more reliable information into the hands of journalists and the general public, the Hearst Data Deserts Project will help produce more informed citizen participation. “Access to timely, fact-based information is critical to informed civic participation,”…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte, Hearsts Foundation

Posted: April 9, 2019

University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information Director Frank LoMonte’s opinion article “Finding University Presidents in Secret Helps Profiteers, Not the Public” was published in the Orlando Sentinel on April 8. LoMonte comments on legislation that recently passed the Florida House Senate Affairs Committee to close public access to records of university presidential searches. He counters the claim that without secrecy, good candidates won’t visit the campus. “The fact is that there is no evidence that hiring presidents in secret, closed meetings produces more successful presidencies,” LoMonte writes. “There is powerful contrary evidence…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte, Orlando Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times

Posted: April 4, 2019

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “Edgewater’s ‘Family Affair’ Government Leads to Possible City Council Violations” published in The Daytona Beach News-Journal on March 30. In the article, LoMonte comments on a government organization’s failure to archive social media posts, potentially in violation for Florida’s record-retention law. “The individuality of the rules around each record complicates enforcement,” said LoMonte. “Every state has a law requiring government officials to retain the public records they create, but those laws are purposefully designed to be flexible and leave a…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Daytona Beach News-Journal, Frank LoMonte

Posted: April 1, 2019

A team of investigative journalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, whose reporting led the City of Atlanta to overhaul its practices for responding to public-records requests, is the winner of the 2019 Brechner Freedom of Information Award. The award, presented annually by the Joseph L. Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida, recognizes excellence in reporting about freedom of information, access to government-held information or the First Amendment. The award, which includes a $3,000 cash prize, is primarily intended to reward journalism shedding light on government secrecy. The team responsible for the award-winning AJC series — “How…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte, Ted Bridis, The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Posted: March 8, 2019

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “The Covington Catholic Case Could Turn on ‘Actual Malice’” published in The Atlantic on March 5. The article focuses on the lawsuit filed by Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann against The Washington Post claiming their reporting of an incident at the Lincoln Memorial in January caused permanent damage to his life and reputation. Sandmann is not considered a public figure, but he could be deemed a limited-purpose public figure who thrust himself into the controversy to influence the…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: February 25, 2019

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “Where Did This Law Come From? Look back to 2008 to Understand Why It’s Illegal to Post Certain Videos to Facebook?” published in The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, Louisiana) on Feb. 22. The article focuses on a 2008 Louisiana law against posting videos and photos of illegal activity on social media. Maegan Adkins-Barras was arrested for violating this law by posting a video of a fight between students at Acadiana High School. She was not involved in the fight. According to…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: February 15, 2019

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in the editorial “‘The Post’ Urges OU to Re-Open Access to Title IX Records” published in The Post (Athens, Ohio) on Feb. 14. The Post staff editorial focuses on the lack of public access to student Title IX allegations against university employees at Ohio University. It suggests that university officials are using the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to deny access. According to LoMonte, “withholding entire documents that should be released in redacted form makes the university liable under…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte