Georgia First Amendment Foundation

Protecting government agencies against cyberattacks is important and requires some secrecy, but the Georgia First Amendment Foundation is concerned about provisions of House Bill 134 that could make it easier for your elected officials to close public meetings or make records secret. GFAF thinks lawmakers could better balance security and transparency with a few changes: https://bit.ly/2Ny8pO7. Do you agree? Tell your legislators: legis.ga.gov/find-my-legislator

Some recent history for #SunshineWeek: A journalist’s open records request first brought to light the details of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder and a prosecutor’s intention not to pursue arrests. The New York Times’ Richard Fausset used the Georgia Open Records Act to obtain a prosecutor’s memo. His article led to international outrage, prosecutorial changes and charges against three white men accused of cornering and murdering Arbery, a Black man, as he jogged in a Brunswick-area neighborhood. Now Georgia lawmakers are working on legislation that could dismantle the state’s 158-year-old citizen’s arrest law part of the rationale in that prosecutor's memo for not pursuing arrests in Arbery's death.

Here’s a Q&A for #SunshineWeek: Are public meetings conducted via video conference and teleconference considered open under Georgia law? Yes. The public should be able to watch and/or listen to a live video broadcast or dial in via telephone. GFAF supports Senate Bill 95, which would clarify aspects of the Georgia Open Meetings Act that have caused confusion and interfered with public comment during the COVID-19 pandemic. gfaf.org/news/legislative-watch/

ICYMI: 30th Georgia Bar Media & Judiciary Conference. Check out videos with news and views on how the First Amendment intersects with elections, protests and the pandemic. http://bit.ly/GFAF_YouTube