New England First Amendment Coalition
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SPRING FUNDRAISER - LAST DAY
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NEFAC President Karen Bordeleau:
"I hope you can find a way to support NEFAC's work and to help us defend the First Amendment. After all, the First Amendment is the only defense between a thriving democracy and tyranny."
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Need more reasons to donate?
Scroll down to see what we accomplished
just this month
or view more testimonials
here
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With protests against racism and police brutality occurring throughout the country, NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman spoke with Lia Ernst, a NEFAC board member and senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Vermont, about our constitutional rights during political demonstrations.
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The New England First Amendment Coalition recently joined 115 other press advocates around the country to demand an end to attacks against journalists covering protests in Minnesota. The groups also sent similar letters to officials in New York City and Denver.
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Additional Coverage
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A conversation between NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman and NEFAC’s Dan Barrett, legal director at the ACLU of Connecticut, about how access to law enforcement records can help us better hold police accountable for their actions and prevent future misconduct.
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“During the last several weeks, the issue of police brutality has risen in our national conscience and there now seems to be the political appetite to make necessary reforms to law enforcement policy,” wrote Justin Silverman, NEFAC’s executive director, to members of the state’s Senate Government Operations Committee on June 18.
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The New England First Amendment Coalition joined a group of transparency advocates across the country to publicize the need for more access to law enforcement records.“More public oversight leads to better policing, which leads to better public safety and stronger communities,” according to a June 12 statement by NEFAC and more than 50 organizations.
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Additional Coverage
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Major Wins for Transparency: How the N.H. State Supreme Court Reshaped the Right to Know Law
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During this recorded webinar, NEFAC's Rick Gagliuso and Gregory V. Sullivan discuss two recent decisions that will make it easier for citizens to obtain personnel records through the New Hampshire Right to Know Law.
Additional Coverage
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NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman recently led a conversation with John Marion of Common Cause Rhode Island and NEFAC’s Tim White of WPRI-Providence. They discussed the toll taken on open government during the COVID-19 pandemic through executive orders issued by Gov. Gina Raimondo.
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House Bill 558 would exempt the hearings from the Vermont Open Meeting Law. Much of the information presented at the hearings, however, is already publicly accessible, testified Michael Donoghue, NEFAC’s first vice president, on behalf of the coalition.
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FIRST AMENDMENT AND THE FREE PRESS
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A conversation with Tara O'Neill, breaking news reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media Group, about her coverage of the Bridgeport Police Department and the challenges journalists face while trying to report on law enforcement during recent protests and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman gave the opening presentation at this year's New England High School Journalism Collaborative conference. Silverman and the attending students discussed public records, First Amendment rights and journalism's role in a functioning democracy.
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NEFAC is pleased to announce Tierney Gilmore, a student at New England Law | Boston, as a summer fellow. Gilmore, a rising second-year law student, will be assisting in a variety of projects and initiatives, including efforts to increase transparency within law enforcement agencies throughout the region.
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However difficult it may be to host public meetings online, citizens must demand that they have sufficient access and oversight. By looking for ways to better facilitate public participation, we can use this pandemic as an opportunity — one that will set the groundwork for more access and a higher standard of transparency moving forward.
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Various states are now convening legislative committees to address the challenges of reopening economies, paying for COVID-19-related expenses and ensuring public access to ballot boxes. Massachusetts lawmakers are having similar conversations, but they’re discussing these profoundly important questions without the transparency our public records law requires of other governmental bodies.
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“Especially now, police departments should be eager to get these policies in the hands of the public, so citizens will know their police officers are acting reasonably,” said Justin Silverman, the executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, a transparency advocacy group.
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Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said journalists deserve fair access to events, even with the threat of COVID-19. “No local officials, whether they’re representatives or working for the school, should be hiding behind COVID guidelines to infringe upon the rights of the press to cover a newsworthy event like a graduation,” he said, “and they certainly shouldn’t be playing favorites and allowing better access to some media outlets than they’re giving to others.”
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MORE FOI & FIRST AMENDMENT NEWS
Regional / National
Protests, Police Reform
COVID-19
Flag Burning, First Amendment
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Connecticut
Police Reform, Transparency
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Maine
COVID-19
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Massachusetts
Police Reform, Transparency
COVID-19
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New Hampshire
Police Reform, Transparency
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Rhode Island
COVID-19
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Vermont
Public Employees, Free Speech
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