Brechner News

Posted: June 4, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is the author of “The ‘Social Media Discount’ and First Amendment Exceptionalism” published in the University of Memphis Law Review, Volume 50, Book 1. In the article, LoMonte argues that speech that would otherwise be clearly recognized as constitutionally protected and that would go unpunished is being made into grounds for firing people from government jobs or throwing them out of school specifically because it appears on social media, even though there is no differential constitutional protection for online speech. According to LoMonte,…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte, University of Memphis Law Review

Posted: June 4, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was quoted in “A Clearwater Law Firm and a Pinellas Retiree Spar Again Over Public Records” published in the Tampa Bay Times on June 1. The article focuses on Madeira Beach retiree Bill Gay’s challenges to government transparency in Dunedin, Florida. His latest suit alleges that Dunedin officials violated Florida’s Sunshine Law when they settled a legal dispute with a resident without a public meeting. According to LoMonte, while decisions can be delegated to a city manager without the need for a vote…

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

Posted: May 28, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was quoted in “Why Trump Can’t Claim Twitter is Violating His Free Speech” published in Adweek on May 27. The article discusses President Trump’s accusations that Twitter was interfering with the 2020 election and “stifling free speech” by placing a fact-check label on two of his tweets about mail-in ballots. “If there is a First Amendment issue here at all, it’s the issue of threatening the use of presidential authority to compel a private platform to speak or to refrain from speaking,” said…

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

Posted: May 14, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was quoted in “Alabama Utility Commission to Consider Ban on Recording Meeting” posted on Birmingham, Alabama public radio station WBHM-FM’s website. The article features restrictions that the Alabama Public Service Commission has established for coverage of meetings. According to LoMonte, the restrictions are similar to those of judicial bodies and trial courts and the Public Service Commission, which regulates state utilities, is governed by Alabama’s Open Meetings Act, whether it is conducting a meeting or a hearing. “That would be a very unusual…

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

Posted: May 14, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was quoted in “Don’t Expect to See Joe Biden’s Papers” published in Huffington Post on May 11. LoMonte comments on the inaccessibility of Biden’s papers from his time in the Senate. The National Archives doesn’t keep Senate personnel records, and the Senate itself refuses to give up its HR documents for 50 years after severance. The University of Delaware has Biden’s Senate records, but they’re closed to the public. According to LoMonte, Delaware has the “broadest exemption anywhere in the country for records…

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

Posted: April 28, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, will be one of three presenters during a Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) webinar, “Censorship: Getting Past Reporting Roadblocks in the Time of COVID-19.” Access will be available via Zoom on May 5 at 2 p.m. The webinar will provide tips for reporters and editors to help them deal with public information officers and others who put barriers between the audience and primary sources. LoMonte will discuss the Brechner Center’s “Government Gagged” research. Other presenters include Paul Fletcher, publisher and editor-in-chief of Virginia…

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

Posted: April 28, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was quoted in “Authoritarian Governments Crack Down on Press Freedoms Amid COVID-19 Pandemic: Report” featured on ABC News on April 28. The story focuses on how the coronavirus is compounding existing threats to press freedoms around the world. According to LoMonte, such censorship creates a real risk to citizens’ health and safety during a global pandemic, making people “more susceptible to falling for dangerous rumors.” ‘We can’t have governments undermining people’s trust and confidence in the news,” LoMonte said. “Because believing news right…

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

Posted: April 20, 2020

Miranda Spivack, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information Journalism fellow and veteran Washington Post journalist, is the author of the opinion column “An Early Casualty of the Coronavirus” published in Newsday on April 19. Spivack chronicles the suspension or delay of open meetings and public records requests by state and federal government agencies. According to Spivack, “It is obvious that some delays and detours are necessary as governments adjust to the new normal and step up their public health response. But the virus in the United States also should be an opportunity for governments to…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Miranda Spivack

Posted: April 20, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was quoted in “Local Governments Are Hard to Find as Coronavirus Ends Public Meetings” published in The Wall Street Journal on April 19. The article looks at struggles by many communities to run city-council meetings amid bad connections and Zoom-bombing. Access to records has also been an issue and many state and local governments are not responding to public-records requests. “I would say most of the difficulties in adaptation can be chalked up to good-faith attempts to comply with the law in a…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post

Posted: April 8, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was quoted in “Inmate at Krome Detention Center Tests Positive for COVID-19. Here’s How ICE Kept It Quiet” published in the Miami Herald on April 7. The article focuses on an immigration inmate that tested positive for COIVD-19, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not divulge the information until the detainee was technically no longer in the detention center — but rather at a hospital. According to LoMonte, there’s no absolute legal compulsion for agencies to give out statistics, that they are…

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

Posted: April 7, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was quoted in “CDC Sued Over Release of Policies Restricting Free Speech” published in Quill on April 3. The article focuses on a FOIA request for information on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the White House restricting CDC employees’ communications with the press and the public, including those related to the coronavirus pandemic. LoMonte explains that agencies are aware of this situation and that policies often exist informally. He claims that it is something everybody knows but nobody can…

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

Posted: April 2, 2020

Kaiser Health News reporter Christina Jewett is the winner of the 2019 Brechner Freedom of Information Award for exposing a secret federal database where regulators concealed millions of reported malfunctions in medical devices. Jewett’s March 2019 story, “Hidden Harm,” and extensive follow-up reporting led the Food and Drug Administration to belatedly disclose 5.7 million reports of potentially dangerous failures in breathing machines, breast implants and other federally regulated medical equipment. “It’s so timely at this moment when the public is reliant on expert health reporters for literal life-and-death information that we honor Christina Jewett and Kaiser Health News for contributing…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: 2019 Brechner Freedom of Information Award, Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Christina Jewett, Frank LoMonte