John Oliver Uses Public Records

Voir Dire

Contempt Example

Florida Shield Law

Here is information about the Florida shield law. Here is more information.

FOIA Extra Credit

To earn 10 extra credit points, put FOIA to work.

Seek a state or federal record from the executive branch with a formal letter or email request if the agency accepts them. Examples of letters are on this blog and in your textbook. Send the request to the agency and also make a second copy of the letter/email to get class credit - scan and upload to Webcourses.

Or, find an agency record online and scan it out - the first page or two if it is lengthy. Scan and upload to Webcourses. (Make sure it is an actual record.)

The extra credit is due through Webcourses by midnight EST on Thursday, March 5th.

For more details on public records, look at the previous blog posts about FOIA and review Chapter 9. The extra credit is added to your overall grade. Remember that you are using FOIA to find a RECORD from the Executive Branch. I will not pre-approve a record and will explain this again if emailed. This extra credit assignment is an assessment to measure your understanding of FOIA.

How to Use FOIA

FOIA

Here is a link to some FBI Records.
Here's a link to the FCC's FOIA page. Notice how easy it is to request a record.

Here's information about Florida's Sunshine Laws.

Many records are now available online. For example, here is a link to check on Florida food inspection records. This is an example.


Here are some contacts for Federal Agencies and FOIA.

Here is the link to the FBI's FOIA contact.

Taping & Recording

State Laws
While the U.S. federal law only requires one-party consent, many states have accepted different laws. In some states all parties must give their consent or at least be notified that the call is about to be recorded (with necessary opt-out option: if you don’t like them to record the call, you can ask them to stop recording). There also was a case law decision from many years ago (the 1950's) that went to the Supreme Court and affirmed that the federal law does not supersede state authority/statutes unless the call crosses state lines – that is why each state went ahead and established its own guideline/statute.

States Requiring One Party Notification
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas Colorado District Of Columbia Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Oklahoma Oregon Ohio Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

States Requiring Two Party Notification California Connecticut Delaware Florida Massachusetts Maryland Michigan Montana New Hampshire Pennsylvania Washington

Booth Rule Example

Appropriation & Intrusion

This my son Curtis at Playalinda Beach. If this image were to be used in an advertisement for the Cape Canaveral Beaches without my permission, would I sue for a right to publicity or a right to privacy under appropriation law?

What if this photo was featured on the front page of the local newspaper without my permission. Would I have the basis for an intrusion lawsuit?

Lindsay & E-Trade

Lindsay v Pitbull

The ruling is here.

Courtney Love's Twitter Libel Lawsuit

See more US News from ABC|World News

Lindsay Lohan Libel Lawsuit

Snyder v Phelps

Jeanne Clery Act

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (20 USC § 1092(f)) is the landmark federal law, originally known as the Campus Security Act, that requires colleges and universities across the United States to disclose information about crime on and around their campuses.

Because the law is tied to participation in federal student financial aid programs it applies to most institutions of higher education both public and private. It is enforced by the U.S. Department of Education.

The "Clery Act" is named in memory of 19 year old university freshman Jeanne Ann Clery (pictured above) who was raped and murdered while asleep in her residence hall room on April 5, 1986.

Jeanne's parents, Connie and Howard, discovered that students hadn't been told about 38 violent crimes on their daughter's campus in the three years before her murder. They joined with other campus crime victims and persuaded Congress to enact this law, which was originally known as the "Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990."

Here is more information about the Clery Act.

Here is how UCF complies with the Act. Here is a link to a recent FIT story about Clery Act violations.

Morris v Frederick

Tinker v Des Moines

The Post

Dixie Chicks Documentary

Zenger Trial Information

Here is a link to a great article about the Zenger trial.

Forty Years After the Pentaon Papers

Pentagon Papers

UCF's ProctorHub Information

Here is a link to more information about ProctorHub - including how to test your webcam.

First Amendment & Violent Video Games

Executive Orders

How a Bill Becomes a Law

New York Times v Sullivan

Copyright & Monkey Selfie

Who holds the copyright in a monkey selfie situation?

Florida vs Rainbows

Textbook for Mass Comm Law

You can either get the 20th or 21st edition of Mass Media Law (by Clay Calvert and colleagues) for this class. The 20th edition will be cheaper.