A win for open documents

Article Abstract:

The Ohio Supreme Court offered decisions favouring the policy of open-government in several lawsuits, and emphasized the importance of public scrutiny of government documents. The court strongly supported an environmental health director, who sued some county commissioners for providing inadequate and incomplete details of minutes. The justices ordered payment of legal fees exceeding $ 100,000 to the director. In another case, the court ordered government officials to make some public documents available to a newspaper, and pay $ 43,000 to the newspaper for lawyer fees.

Analysis, Laws, regulations and rules, Government information, Government publications, Government documents, Ohio. Supreme Court

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Student has right to open hearing over teacher's aide's objections

Article Abstract:

The Iowa Supreme Court in Schumacher v. Lisbon School Board of Education granted a student an open hearing to protest his one-day suspension from school. The suspension resulted from a conflict between the student and a teacher's aide. The aide petitioned for a closed hearing, claiming an open hearing would damage her reputation. Closed hearings are granted when determining an employee's competency. The state Supreme Court ruled the hearing concerned student suspension, not employee competency, and the student had a right to an open hearing.

Iowa, Student suspension, Teachers' assistants, Teacher assistants, Public meetings

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Public has right to be present during civil trials

Article Abstract:

The California Supreme Court upheld a public right to attend civil trials in KNBC-TV, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County and gave guidelines for the limited circumstances when such trials should be closed. Although the US Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld such a public right for criminal trials, it has not affirmed a similar constitutional right for civil ones.

California, Public and closed trials, Right to public trial, Civil procedure

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