Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> Legal Blog Watch

Legal News

: Legal Blog Watch

Public Officials Sue for Right to Be Secret

By Robert J. Ambrogi

I make no bones about my ferocity in support of open government. I believe religiously in the time-honored words spoken in 1933 by Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, "Sunlight is the greatest disinfectant." I write about open meetings and public records issues at my Media Law blog and lobby around them on behalf of my state's newspaper association. Thus, it should surprise no one that I consider it outrageous that a coalition of Texas municipalities and elected officials have filed a federal lawsuit claiming they have a First Amendment right to conduct the public's business in secret. The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Pecos, by four Texas cities and 15 elected officials, alleges that the Texas Open Meetings Act violates officials' free speech rights by preventing them from speaking in private on issues facing the public. No, I'm not making this up. And, in fairness, neither are the plaintiffs. Instead, blame it on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Last April, a three-judge panel reinstated a lawsuit filed by city council members in Alpine, Texas, challenging the open meetings law on First Amendment grounds. In July, the 5th Circuit agreed to rehear the case en banc....

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on December 16, 2009 (boomark / email).