About the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund is a public interest legal organization that brings a unique and cutting edge approach dedicated to the defense of human and civil rights secured by law, the protection of free speech and dissent, and the elimination of prejudice and discrimination. Among the PCJF cases are constitutional law, civil rights, women's rights, economic justice matters and Freedom of Information Act cases.

Founded by Carl Messineo and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, who the Washington Post has called “the constitutional sheriffs for a new protest generation,” the PCJF’s work includes landmark constitutional rights litigation, often concentrated in the areas of free speech, assembly or other protected political organizing activity. The PCJF’s litigation program works alongside an equally important programmatic emphasis on education and outreach.

The PCJF’s hard-hitting investigative work and transparency program has forced the disclosure of thousands of government documents about secret and illegal surveillance programs resulting in groundbreaking analysis and exposés. This work has revealed the government’s use of anti-terrorism agencies and funding against peaceful political protest in America.

This can't be happening ...

Department of Homeland Security Brands ThisCantBeHappening! a ‘Threat’

Sun, 06/08/2014 - 09:45

by: 

 Dave Lindorff

ThisCantBeHappening! has just learned that our little news organization was listed, in an alert fired off to all 78 Fusion Centers by Kelly Wilson, Director of the Washington DC Fusion Center’s Regional Threat and Assessment Center, as a potential threat.

The stated role of the Fusion Centers, which were created (and lavishly funded) in the wake of 9-11, was to link federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in order to better detect and combat terrorists inside the US. So what about this threat posed by ThisCantBeHappening!, though? Well, as Threat Assessment Director Wilson explains in her alert, the threat is that TCBH! published an article suggesting that the Fusion Centers played a central role in orchestrating the attacks on Occupy Movement actions in cities all across the US.

As she states in her alert:
 

“Although at this time these reference to fusion centers and Occupy seems [sic] to be compartmentalized I wanted to make you aware of these references in case the national news media begins [sic] speculating about fusion center involvement.”
 

U.S. Attempt to 'License' Free Speech

A New Report on Media Credentialing Practices in the United States

The Digital Media Law Project is pleased to present a new report in conjunction with Journalist's Resource, Who Gets a Press Pass? Media Credentialing Practices in the United States.

Media credentials are an essential tool for covering restricted events and places in the United States, but inconsistencies and gaps in existing standards for the issuance of credentials have created substantial confusion as to which journalists are entitled to special access. Who Gets a Press Pass? presents a first-of-its-kind analysis of this complex environment, surveying different legal regimes for media credentials throughout the country as well as the actual experiences of more than 1,300 journalists who have sought credentials from federal, state, local, and private organizations. The survey reveals a diverse environment, but one where certain categories of journalists have a significant advantage over others in obtaining credentials.

Who Gets a Press Pass? is a report of the Media Credentialing Working Group, including theDigital Media Law Project, Journalist's Resource, Free Press, the National Press Photographers Association, the Investigative News Network, and the Nieman Journalism Lab. These organizations are deeply concerned about the effect of credentialing systems on all members of the journalism world, including both employees of journalism organizations and those who work independently.

It is our hope that this report will help those studying and practicing in the new online environment for journalism to better understand this new world. You can read the executive summary and access the full text of the report here, and read our press release about this report here.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

A few links to Public Data

Ever want to know how much your Mayor is paid? Try this http://publicpay.ca.gov/

It is often difficult to find the information you need to demonstrate an argument or solve a problem. The Open San Diego Flashlight was an attempt to shine some light on the public data available and make it palatable to the general public. We need more such access to the information necessary for democracy. Use Digital Media Law as a resource.

More data links at: https://delicious.com/opensandiegodata
(use RSS feed to capture in database)