by Ashley Dale | Jul 24, 2017 | News
Council of Superior Court Judges to vote by Wednesday on whether to curb electronics in courtrooms. Georgia courts are one step closer to becoming less accessible to the public. On Monday, at a meeting on St. Simons Island, members of the uniform rules committee of a...
by Ashley Dale | Jul 20, 2017 | News
Judicial council to meet Monday on citizen use of electronics in courtrooms. July 20, 2017—A statewide judicial council is scheduled to meet Monday to consider a rule change that could result in less public access to courtrooms. The Council of Superior Court Judges of...
by Ashley Dale | Jun 16, 2017 | News
U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob, who “made the Constitution a reality” in his rulings on Cuban refugees, the Ten Commandments, local jails and hundreds of other cases, has died at age 94. Read more from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Shoob—whose fierce...
by Ashley Dale | Jun 16, 2017 | News
Saying “open government is essential to a free, open and democratic society,” state Attorney General Chris Carr urged the Georgia Supreme Court to reverse a 2016 Georgia Court of Appeals decision that allowed closure of records from privately administered public...
by Ashley Dale | May 15, 2017 | News
The Georgia Supreme Court has asked Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr to weigh in on whether the public should continue to have access to records of public hospitals, like Atlanta-based Northside, that are restructured to be operated by nonprofits. The public’s...
by Ashley Dale | May 12, 2017 | News
Hollie Manheimer has been executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation since January 1996. This month she’s stepping down from the post, although she’ll continue as a volunteer with the foundation. Join us as we celebrate her years of service on May 23...
by Ashley Dale | May 7, 2017 | Events, News
Twenty one years of fighting for the public’s right to know Foundation Executive Director Hollie Manheimer is stepping down from her post after 21 years of dedicated service to preserving and expanding Georgians’ rights to open government and free speech....
by Ashley Dale | Apr 3, 2017 | News
There were a few nail-biting moments for government transparency advocates during this year’s state General Assembly session. But, in the end, lawmakers treaded lightly on Georgians’ rights to access government records, meetings and proceedings and to practice free...
by Ashley Dale | Mar 20, 2017 | News
An amended e-filing bill continues to jeopardize public access to court records in Georgia. As it stands, House Bill 15 would give court clerks extraordinary power to delay the public’s access to electronically filed court records and impose burdensome fees for...
by Ashley Dale | Mar 16, 2017 | News
The Georgia First Amendment Foundation is calling on state Senate Judiciary Committee members meeting today to modify an electronic-filing bill to better protect public access to court records. In its current form, House Bill 15 could result in a fee for simply...