First Amendment Lawyer Blog

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"Discusses First Amendment news, reports and opinions in California."

Author: Karl Olson practices at Levy, Ram & Olson in San Francisco.

Blawg Related Categories: Constitutional Law • First Amendment • States • California • Solo / Small Firm

Recent Posts from First Amendment Lawyer Blog

Sunlight Must Shine on Pensions
California is broke. There's plenty of blame to go around, but one of the prime culprits is a lack of transparency. If people don't know how public money is being spent, it's hard to ensure…
Public Disclosure Is Good Business for Investors
Why is transparency and openness important? Think about Bernard Madoff. People invested millions in Madoff on the promise of 14 or 15 percent returns, even though they had no idea what he was investing in…
Federal Shield Law May Pass This Year -- Free Flow of Information Act, HR 985, Clears House Judiciary Committee
This may be the year the long-debated and much-needed federal shield law passes. The so-called Free Flow of Information Act, HR 985, cleared the House Judiciary Committee March 25, and the committee's chairman, Rep. John…
Obama's Welcome Change on FOIA
In a welcome shift from its predecessor, President Obama's administration has issued new guidelines favoring disclosure and transparency in handling Freeom of Information Act guidelines. Obama first signaled a shift on his first day in…
Rights of Celebrities Can Collide With First Amendment
What do Dustin Hoffman, Joe Montana and Vanna White have in common? All have been plaintiffs in high-profile cases testing whether a person's right to profit from celebrity overcomes a First Amendment right to talk…
Campaign Finance Laws 1, Anonymity 0
A couple weeks ago I blogged about the lawsuit by supporters of Proposition 8, the California measure to ban gay marriage, seeking to withhold disclosure of the names of late campaign donors. I mentioned that…
It's Time for a Federal Reporter's Privilege
President Obama and Congress, after you're done fixing the economy and dealing with the Middle East and global warming -- or maybe if you get a spare moment before then -- it's time to pass…
Another Lawsuit Yelps About a Yelper
I recently blogged about a lawsuit involving a Yelp review. Now it seems like this is becoming a trend. The latest lawsuit was brought by a pediatric dentist in Foster City, California, who took umbrage…
OBAMA: RECORDS PRESUMED OPEN
OBAMA: RECORDS PRESUMED OPEN President Obama didn't waste any time in breaking with the secrecy-first policies of his predecessor. On his first full day in office, Obama issued a memorandum reversing the policy of the…
Anonymity Collides With Full Campaign Disclosure
Two interests which both find some support in the First Amendment -- the right to be anonymous and the public's right to know -- collide with each other in a new federal court lawsuit. The…