Court allows broadcast in Calif. same-sex marriage appeal

from Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press:

The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco (9th Cir.) allowed the live broadcast Monday of more than two hours of oral arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a case challenging the constitutionality of California’s ban on same-sex marriages.

The hearing before the three-judge panel is the latest legal step in the case brought by two same-sex couples to challenge California’s Proposition 8, an amendment to the state constitution enacted by voters in 2008.

In August, a federal court in San Francisco ruled that Proposition 8 violated the federal constitution. That ruling, by Judge Vaughn Walker, came after a trial that, by order of the U.S. Supreme Court, could not be broadcast to the public.

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court rebuffed Walker’s plan to broadcast the trial, ruling that the broadcasting would conflict with court policy and procedural rules. The Supreme Court also noted the possible chilling effect on witnesses.

The Ninth Circuit’s decision to broadcast Monday's hearing did not raise the same issues.

Read the rest here.

Surveillance Camera Performers

After Columbia, Missouri voters approved placing security cameras downtown, one resident started the COMO Surveillance Camera Players. The idea is to have the actors perform in front of the cameras and then make a Sunshine Law request for the video.

The group of more than a hundred envisions doing art, reading poetry, and making political messages for the downtown cameras. The group's leader, Shane Ferguson, says the performers themselves may discourage crime. "What criminals are going to go where there are a bunch of artsy fartsy things happening in front of a camera?" Ferguson asked.

Fore more, click here.

NFOIC Summit: Florida FOIA roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Barbara Petersen of Florida First Amendment Foundation provided a summary of her state's FOI news.

• Florida is celebrating its 100th anniversary of its public records law and the 30th anniversary of allowing cameras in the courtroom.
• Peterson chaired Florida's Commission on Open Government Reform. The final report, "Reforming Florida's Open Government Laws in the 21st Century," was submitted, and she will now be assisting in drafting legislation on the report's recommendations.
  

NFOIC Summit: Minnesota FOIA roundup

State-by-state updates at the 2009 NFOIC Summit: Helen Burke of the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information provided a summary of her state's FOI news.

• The governor's approach toward retention of e-mails is that they be kept up to 90 days, preferably 30 days.
• Minnesota took a step in the right direction with the Transparency and Accountability Project which includes vendor reports.
• Minnesota doesn't allow cameras in the courtroom, but the Supreme Court has said there can be a commission set up to explore this issue. It's moving at a glacial pace but in a good direction.
• The Uptake streamed the hearings regarding the Franken/Coleman senatorial election.
• Public access suffered a setback when the governor signed into law a bill that defines the Department of Natural Resources database as not a public database.
  

Minn. county tries to ban cameras at meetings

The group We Are Watching may no longer be able to record and post audio and video of St. Louis County Board meetings, Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune reported. Commissioners say the recorder is distracting and that the tapes are edited and taken out of context.

A St. Louis County commissioner has asked for a legal opinion on whether the board can ban citizens from recording some County Board meetings.

Keith Nelson of Eveleth raised the issue Tuesday at the board’s meeting in Duluth, saying he was concerned that he and other commissioners had been recorded at their Jan. 20 board workshop in Pike Lake.

The group We Are Watching records many County Board meetings, including the workshops, and often posts that audio and sometimes video on the group’s Web site, www.northernmnnews.com.

More here.