Final COM LAW test

FOIA/ Freedom of Information Act

Opens federal agencies’ records and files to public inspection
- Does not cover records held by Congress or federal courts

Agency records

• Created or obtained by an agency or under agency control

• Possesses the document but does not control it- maybe

• Came into possession of the document as part of official duties

FOIA Exemptions

Agencies can refuse to turn over records for these reasons. If a record contains some exempt information but isn’t completely exempt, Agencies must make redactions

• National Security

• Housekeeping Practices

• Statutory Exemption

  • Specfically exempted by statute

• Trade secrets

• Working papers/discovery

• Personnel Privacy

• Law Enforcement

• Financial records

• Geological data

Federal Open Meeting Law

Public bodies must conduct meetings in public with at least one week’s notice and keep notes

• Applies only to bodies whose members are appointed by the President

• Agencies must keep records of what occurs in closed meetings

State open meetings laws

Vary

• Sanction government officials who don’t follow the mandate

• Legislative declarations at the beginning of laws in favor of open meetings help persuade judges in legal cases

Statutory Construction

Done when the law is ambiguous; examining the legislative intent and history behind a statute

Promissory estoppel

Allows court to enforce promises that do not add up to enforceable contracts

• Clear and definite promise to plaintiff

• The defendant intended to to induce the plaintiff’s reliance on that promise;

• that the plaintiff, in fact, reasonably relied on that promise to his or her detriment and harm; and

• that the promise must be enforced by the court in the interests of justice to the plaintiff.

Branzburg v. Hayes

No federal protection for journalists for a grand jury subpoena

• Mostly doesn’t apply to non-grand jury cases/subpoenas

Journalists asked to testify in civil cases

Courts ask:

• Info relevance?

• Does the info go to the heart of the issue?

• Can the person who wants the information show the court that thee are no other sources?

Journalists asked to testify in criminal cases

Same test as civil, but courts must balance journalistic privilege with the sixth amendment right to compel testimony

Shield laws

Statutes that protect journalist’s right to conceal confidential sources

• Most states have them, vary in strength

Gonzales v. NBC

• Journalists have privilege against subpeonas for non-confidential information as well as confidential

Privacy Protection Act

Prohibits seizing journalists work through a search unless the journalist is the subject of the investigation