Free Republic

The Missouri Supreme Court ordered on Friday that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner comply with a public records request from Just the News Editor-in-Chief John Solomon regarding the prosecution of former Gov. Eric Greitens.Solomon filed a public records request in July 2019 under Missouri's Sunshine Law for about two and a half years' worth of communications between Gardner's office and the Missouri Workforce Housing Association, state Representatives Stacy Newman and Jay Barnes, along with several other groups and individuals.Gardner is one of the first big-city district attorneys bankrolled by liberal megadonor Soros.The public records request sought documents related to...

A Cumberland County school district reconsidering its COVID-19 safety plan is eliminating public comment on the matter after a number of residents expressed concerns with attending meetings filled with anti-maskers. In an email to the community, the Cumberland Valley School District requested all comment regarding the fate of its coronavirus safety plan to be submitted in writing or over Zoom during Monday’s meeting. The deadline to submit comments is noon Monday. Public participation and viewing of the meeting will only be available through Zoom, the school board said. Those who register to make comment on Zoom but are unable to...

A new law is designed to give Pennsylvania citizens more information about what their elected officials are doing. Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday signed into law a measure requiring state government agencies, school districts, and local municipalities to post their meeting agendas on their websites 24 hours in advance for public review. They also are required to make copies of the agenda available at their meetings, listing items that will be or may be the subject of deliberation. The new law’s purpose is to enforce the “right of the public to be informed and present at their government’s proceedings,” according...

We picked up a virus from China, as everyone knows. But that may not be the only “virus” we have absorbed from them. As we’ve previously reported, we also have some cities across the country employing Chinese drones to spy on people who may not be social distancing. Should we even ask what the Chinese get out of that “donation” to our police forces? But that’s not all. Have we also picked up their “snitch culture” in the process? In China, in every apartment building and in every block, there’s always at least one person who is the local Communist...

USF MO #2: Disclosing the Incident to the Public With the undisclosed burglaries that took place at the University of South Florida's Registrar and College of Engineering Offices back in June of 2015, FloridaÂ’s Sunshine law took a major hit. USF was not at all transparent with its most important constituency, its students, but also orchestrated a cover-up to keep the general public from knowing, and to prevent the media from covering a newsworthy story. Surprisingly, it was the ProvostÂ’s office and not President Judy GenshaftÂ’s office, that was first notified of the burglaries. After learning of the burglaries, Provost...

Gov. Scott Walker will have to act in near-record time to sign the state budget before his presidential campaign announcement on Monday, but his Democratic predecessor signed budgets on the same timeline. Walker's office has not released a timeline for when or where he will sign the state budget and unveil his partial vetoes to it, but the Republican governor has repeatedly said that he wants the budget finished before he hits the White House campaign trail. The state Senate passed Walker's two-year $72.7 billion state budget just before midnight on Tuesday, and the Assembly is expected to send it...

The Associated Press has uncovered what may become a vast new scandal for the Obama administration: the possibly widespread use of covert email accounts by political appointees, enabling evasion of sunshine laws designed to protect the public. Jack Gillium of AP reports: Some of President Barack Obama's political appointees, including the Cabinet secretary for the Health and Human Services Department, are using secret government email accounts they say are necessary to prevent their inboxes from being overwhelmed with unwanted messages, according to a review by The Associated Press. The scope of using the secret accounts across government remains a mystery:...

Local media is reporting that the Obama administration has taken control of access to two Ferguson, Missouri townhall meetings on the Mike Brown shooting being held Monday evening. The Department of Justice has limited attendance to Ferguson residents only and has ordered ID checks to gain entry. DOJ banned reporters. In a First Amendment irony, the meetings are being held in churches: Wellspring and Pour Lady of Guadalupe. The shooting of unarmed 18 year old black robber by white police officer Darren Wilson after a confrontation that occurred just minutes after Brown robbed a convenience store has stoked national controversy....

Government officials routinely broke or skirted Indiana's open records law during a statewide test by eight newspapers. Journalists presenting themselves as citizens visited government offices in all 92 counties to see how readily officials turned over documents that are supposed to be available to anyone. While some journalists easily obtained the records, others were intimidated, questioned repeatedly, put off for days, or wrongly told they needed a court order or subpoena. One county worker said it would take "an act of God" for him to turn over the public document. For more, see: http://www.indystar.com/articles/9/188949-6629-009.html