Should the right to obtain state government records end at the state line?In a petition filed June 29, attorneys for two frustrated public-records requesters are asking the U.S.
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SPLC Calls for FERPA Reform After ‘Outlandish’ Court Ruling Shielding Iowa Rape Records
The Student Press Law Center (“SPLC”), a nonprofit legal-assistance organization that supports student journalists nationwide, released the following statement Friday in response to the Iowa Supreme Court’s July 13 ruling in Press-Citizen Company v. University of Iowa.
Iowa Supreme Court: FERPA shields records in student athlete sexual assault case
Federal student privacy law bars the release of records related to an alleged sexual assault by university football players, even in redacted form, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.
U. of Michigan paper faces $1 million defamation suit — in Canada
A Canadian hockey club filed suit against the University of Michigan’s student newspaper in an Ontario court Tuesday, following a story that alleged the team offered money to a UM-bound player.
Former Elon student asks N.C. Supreme Court to open police records at private colleges
Nick Ochsner, the former Elon University student journalist who was denied access to records held by the private school’s police department, is taking his case to the state Supreme Court.Ochsner filed a petition Tuesday to have his case against the university and the state attorney general’s office heard by the North Carolina Supreme Court.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Being charged for information you don’t even get? That’s [REDACTED] outrageous!
What's more frustrating than asking for public records and getting back a page full of mysterious black rectangles?Getting charged extra for the rectangles.When a public record contains material that is legally exempt from disclosure, state open-records laws typically require that the agency blank out -- or "redact" -- the exempt material and produce the rest.It's a common-sense alternative to making openness all-or-nothing.
Wash. appeals court considers landlord’s libel suit over high school newspaper
The Washington Court of Appeals heard arguments in a libel suit against the student newspaper at Roosevelt High School on Monday, a case raising the issue of a school district’s liability for stories written by student journalists.Landlord Hugh Sisley brought the lawsuit against the Seattle School District after The Roosevelt News published a story in 2009 claiming Sisley had “been accused of racist renting policies.” Sisley and his wife deny those allegations and claim the story defamed them.Superior Court Judge Kimberly Prochnau sided with the school district last year, finding both that the story was not libelous and also that the school could not be held liable for the work of student journalists who are not the school's agents or employees.On appeal, the Sisleys are challenging both of those findings and want the case to go forward to a trial.A three-judge panel of the appeals court heard oral arguments in the case Monday morning, appearing skeptical of arguments from both sides.School district attorney Jeff Freimund faced questions on the school’s liability for newspaper content, while the Sisleys’ attorney, Jeff Grant, was questioned on whether the story itself could be libelous.In legal briefs, the school district argues that it can’t be held liable for the story because the First Amendment prohibited school officials from censoring it.
N.J. high court rules university legal clinics exempt from public records law
Records related to the cases of legal clinics at public law schools are not subject to New Jersey’s public records law, under a new state Supreme Court ruling.
Chicago university replaces, locks out staff of student radio station
The disc jockeys at Northeastern Illinois University’s student radio station have been locked out of the station and replaced.
Del. lawmakers vote to ban colleges from asking for social media passwords
On the last day of its session, the Delaware legislature passed a bill which prohibits both public and private colleges and universities from requiring students to hand over their social media passwords.