The California Supreme Court has decided not to reconsider a recent appellate ruling establishing a statewide precedent that police arrest videos cannot be considered confidential officer personnel records and shielded from public view. The court’s decision may put an end to a more than two-year battle between the city of Eureka and the North Coast Journal […]
transparency
Posted inNews (NCJ)
UPDATE: Eureka to Discuss Police Video Case Tonight, has Already Spent Thousands on Appeal
UPDATE: The Eureka City Council made no report out of closed session Tuesday night, indicating it has not yet made a final decision on whether to petition the California Supreme Court to review an appellate court ruling ordering the release of a police video of officers arresting a juvenile in 2012. The city has until […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Eureka ‘Evaluating Options’ After Court Ruling
The city of Eureka is “evaluating its options” with regard to this week’s appellate court ruling that it must release a police dash camera video capturing the controversial arrest of a 14-year-old suspect. In its published opinion released late Tuesday, the California First District Court of Appeals ruled that the video in question cannot be […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Arrest Video Can’t be Kept Confidential, Appellate Court Rules
A Eureka police video depicting the arrest of a 14-year-old suspect can’t be considered a confidential personnel record and must be released to the public, an appellate court has ruled. The court’s unanimous decision upholds a May 21, 2015 ruling by Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Christopher Wilson, who granted a Journal petition seeking release […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Appellate Court Hears Police Video Arguments
Can police videos recorded on body-worn and patrol car dash cameras by considered confidential police officer personnel records and hidden from public view? That’s the question three justices with the California First Appellate District spent about a half an hour wrestling with in a San Francisco courtroom Thursday. It was clear from their questions that […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Appellate Court Wants to See EPD Video, Sets Oral Argument Date
Justices in California’s First Appellate District have decided they want to look at the police dash camera video Eureka is trying to keep the public from seeing. In an unusual order, the justices asked the Humboldt County Superior Court file a copy of the video under seal with the appellate court. But the superior court […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Vote Yes on Prop 42
Proposition 42, on the ballot for California’s June 4 election, will amend the Constitution to assure that local governments are legally bound to observe open-government requirements. If you prefer transparency to secrecy in your city government, local school board or county government, then the choice is clear: You should vote for Proposition 42. Proposition 42 […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Behind the Brown Act
If a representative from Chevron lobbied the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to change a draft ordinance into something more favorable to the company’s interests, would you want to know who he or she was? Now, replace the suit from Chevron with a Southern Humboldt marijuana grower with mud on his jeans. Would that change […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Accountable
At 11:14 p.m. this past election night, Carolyn Crnich, the county clerk and registrar of voters, released her office’s “Election Night Final Report.” This report tallied the results from most — but not all — of the ballots cast, which was intriguing because one election in particular was a real nail-biter. In the race for […]