A former student journalist at the University of Oregon said he was told his conservative publication could not use its student fee-funded budget to pay for public records.
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Proposal to impose state-level penalties for FERPA violations cut from final version of Arizona legislation
Arizona's governor has signed into law a bill that sets out steps to take for those who believe a school has “knowingly violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.”The original version of the bill, introduced in the state Senate in February, would have allowed the state's Department of Education to withhold 10 percent of the school's monthly state aid if the problem was not fixed within 60 days.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Are college fundraisers exempt from open-records statutes? That’s a claim without foundation.
A public university system sets up a fundraising arm to collect donations, entirely staffed by public employees and operated out of a government office building.If you don't see how that fundraising unit can be exempt from the disclosure laws that apply to government agencies, you're not alone.Neither did the attorney general of North Dakota,Wayne Stenehjem, who told the North Dakota University System that the records of money collected and spent by the North Dakota University System Foundation are a matter of public record and must be disclosed on request.In a ruling issued June 25, Stenehjem explained that there is essentially no separation between the university system and the privately incorporated "foundation" that the university system established in 1991 as a vehicle for receiving donations.The analysis was pretty much of a no-brainer, since the foundation has no staff or offices of its own, is run by board members who overlap with the State Board of Higher Education, and exists almost exclusively for the purpose of providing a vehicle to reimburse university system officials for expenses beyond what state law allows.
IRE provides tipsheets from investigative journalists
For journalists looking to add depth to their stories, Investigative Reporters and Editors has provided a great compilation of presentations and tipsheets from presenters at their June 2013 conference. We’ve pulled a few of our favorites, but the whole treasure trove of information is available here.• A presentation by The Center for Investigative Reporting’s Coulter Jones and the Corpus Christi Caller-Times’ Jessica Savage guides journalists through finding and using data to strengthen stories “on any beat.”• NPR’s Margot Williams offers a list of resources that can help journalists find public records, information about non-profits and charities, archives and data.• The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Kevin Crowe gives advice on looking into “chronic absenteeism” and school funding.
June 2013 podcast: Longtime journalist launches news site aimed at young readers
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Holly Epstein Ojalvo, a journalism educator and founder of GoKicker.com, talks with Student Press Law Center Executive Director Frank LoMonte about her news site aimed at under-30 readers. Frank LoMonte: If you’re a person of a certain age, you can almost recite from memory Billy Joel’s song that went to No. 1 on the charts… Continue reading June 2013 podcast: Longtime journalist launches news site aimed at young readers
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: A century-old murder mystery provokes a modern legal battle over access to medical records
A century ago, a crusading Connecticut newspaper editor helped bring to justice the murderous owner of an old-age home, relying on death certificates that showed boarders at the facility had a suspicious habit of dying from poison.The story of Amy Archer Gilligan -- who died in a state mental hospital in 1962, having been incarcerated 43 years for murder -- inspired the (exceedingly) dark comedy play and film, "Arsenic and Old Lace."And now, it has inspired something more: A sensible ruling that harmonizes state freedom-of-information law with federal health-care privacy law.Privacy laws are widely mis-cited to obstruct journalists' access to public records, and none more flagrantly so than HIPAA, the federal health care privacy statute.
Federal rulings in Florida, Michigan push back against Hazelwood’s advancing tide
When a student voices a personal opinion during school -- even during class -- that opinion is entitled to a high degree of First Amendment protection, and it may neither be proscribed nor punished absent concrete evidence that it provoked a disruptive reaction or was imminently likely to do so.That has been the law for some 44 years, since the Supreme Court decided Tinker v.
Virginia Tech student newspaper won’t appeal dismissal in lawsuit seeking records about missing student
The case involving police records from a 1998 missing person investigation has been dismissed because the West Virginia State Police claim the records are part of an ongoing investigation.The Collegiate Times, Virginia Tech's student newspaper, wanted to access the police investigation file in 2009 when reporter Caleb Fleming was writing a story about the 10th anniversary of former Virginia Tech student Robert Kovack's disappearance.
SPLC urges FCC to consider leniency from indecency fines for student broadcast operations
In comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission, the Student Press Law Center urges the Commission to reconsider a strict enforcement regime that threatens broadcasters who air “fleeting” profanity with fines that can exceed the entire yearly budget for a student-run radio station.
CSU-Fresno student appeals dismissal of censorship lawsuit
A college student who filed a First Amendment complaint in January is appealing a district court ruling because he believes his complaint was unjustly dismissed.