First Amendment Coalition Sues California County for Access to COVID Data

On April 22nd, the First Amendment Coalition (FAC), a nonprofit public interest organization, filed a lawsuit against Ventura County in Southern California. FAC alleges the County violated the California Public Records Act (CPRA) after failing to appropriately respond to two requests for information regarding data on COVID-19 outbreaks and deaths, thus violating the right of access under the First Amendment.

Watch: Open Courts & Racial Justice

The world will be watching when the trial over George Floyd's killing opens this month. Listen to a panel discussion on how the First Amendment’s promise of public trials is playing out in an American courtroom amid the pandemic.

To Help ICE Detainees Speak Out, a First Amendment Clinic Asked a Court to Keep Their Testimonies Secret

For almost a year, women detainees in an immigration detention center in Ocilla, Georgia have tried to call public attention to a pattern of medical neglect and mistreatment, many at the risk of deportation. The pattern of retaliation led to what might at first sound like a paradox: a free-speech group asking the court to block public access to records.

First Amendment Coalition Pushes Court to Keep Public Access to Criminal Case

The defense counsel in a high-profile criminal case in California asked a court in August to close the pretrial hearings from the public and media. Now, a First Amendment advocacy group is pushing back, arguing that there are ways to ensure a fair trial without compromising public access.

Pending Approval, San Francisco Will Pay $369,000 To Journalist Whose House Was Raided

The San Francisco police raided Bryan Carmody's home and office in May 2019 to find information on an anonymous source. Unsealed documents later revealed that the police did not inform the judges who had approved of the search warrants that Carmody had a valid press pass.

First Amendment Coalition Sues DOJ Over Seizure Of Reporter’s Records

The First Amendment Coalition filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice in federal court in San Francisco alleging that the DOJ violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by failing to provide the documents related to the secret collection of a journalist's phone and email records.