Articles

Government wants citizens to pay for seeking destroyed public records

February 19, 2016 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

Strong public records laws give citizens access to the information they need to hold government accountable.  PLF knows firsthand that public records can arm citizens with evidence of constitutional or statutory abuses, enabling them to make better decisions in court or in the voting booth. For this reason, all fifty states and the federal govern ...

Articles

President's weekly report — February 19, 2016

February 19, 2016 | By ROB RIVETT

Florida Supreme Court denies government’s attempt to rehear case After we won our tremendous Supreme Court victory in Koontz v. St. Johns Water Management District in 2013, the Court sent the case back to the Florida courts. There, the district attempted to relitigate parts of the case. After the lower Florida courts rejected this attempt, ...

Articles

State Bar of California must produce records … probably

December 19, 2013 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

Today, the California Supreme Court issued its opinion in Sander v. State Bar of California.  In this case, longtime PLF friend and author of Mismatch, Professor Richard Sander, seeks data from the State Bar that would reveal whether racial preferences harm the students that receive them.  According to Professor Sander, recipients of racial pref ...

Articles

Oral argument held in Sander v. State Bar of California

October 11, 2013 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

Earlier this week, the California Supreme Court heard oral argument in Sander v. State Bar of California.  This case concerns whether the State Bar is a public agency that is required to disclose documents when presented with a Public Records Act request.  The “Sander” in the case is longtime PLF friend, Richard Sander. In addition ...

Articles

A Public Records Act update and kudos to Davis

March 19, 2013 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

Last month Pacific Legal Foundation sent Public Records Act requests to UC Berkeley and UC Davis.  As first uncovered by Professor Josh Blackman, the law journals at both schools had begun asking for the race and sex of authors who were submitting articles.  PLF sought documents from both schools to determine the extent to which the journals w ...

Articles

New ruling requires agencies to turn over hidden data

October 20, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Daniel Himebaugh In Washington State, electronic "metadata" now constitutes a "public record" under the state's Public Records Act.  This means that state and local authorities must disclose metadata to members of the public who request it. Metadata is "data about data"–hidden information about ...