Pro bono legal help for local journalism in Colorado is coming soon
News organizations in Colorado will soon get some extra legal firepower to fight wrongful denials of access to government records and proceedings.
CFOIC
Colorado judicial branch posts draft of proposed rule on suppression of court records
In a closed-door meeting, a Colorado judicial branch committee is expected to consider a long-awaited new rule on the suppression and sealing of criminal court records.
Colorado House bill could ‘gut’ 2019 law that opened records on police internal affairs investigations
A bill in the Colorado legislature threatens to significantly weaken the new state law that opened records on completed police internal affairs investigations.
Colorado judicial branch committee finalizing proposed rule on suppression of criminal court records
A long-awaited proposed new rule on the sealing and suppression of criminal court records could be ready in January and a public hearing likely will follow, the chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court told state lawmakers.
Zansberg: Rules of Professional Conduct ‘have nothing to say’ about disclosure of police body-cam footage
Footage from police body-worn cameras clearly fits the definition of criminal justice records in one of Colorado’s freedom-of-information laws: All materials, including recordings, “made, maintained, or kept” by criminal justice agencies. But some district attorneys are relying on more than the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act to determine whether and when body camera video should be disclosed to the public.
Private-messaging apps undermine CORA’s accountability mandate
If it’s becoming commonplace for state and local officials to communicate using disappearing or encrypted messages, what does that mean for government’s obligations under the state’s transparency laws?
Chicago-based Documenters looks at bringing its ‘direct service journalism’ model to Colorado
Fewer professional journalists in Colorado – the total dropped nearly 44 percent between 2010 and 2018 – means fewer reporters at government meetings where important civic issues are discussed and decided. But some help may be coming from a three-year-old program that trains and pays people to monitor public officials in Chicago and Detroit.
Skeptic turned believer on public funding for local news
A free and independent press is fundamental — it is essential — to American democracy at all levels. But knowing that is precisely why Coloradans must begin a conversation about alternative ways to fund local journalism — even ways that involve public dollars.
CFOIC research: ‘What Colorado Needs to Do to Preserve the Modern Public Record’
The state health department could dispose of a former high-ranking employee’s emails because the records retention schedule for state agencies gives officials the discretion to decide which emails are important enough to keep. The Colorado Open Records Act also doesn’t provide any meaningful guidance about the retention of public records.
CFOIC honors First Amendment attorney Tom Kelley and three other open-government champions
Actual malice. Autopsy reports. The Columbine killers’ “basement tapes.” Stapleton Development Corp. records. The governor’s cellphone bills. The meetings and records of a county retirement board. Tom Kelley waged court battles over these issues and many more as an attorney for The Denver Post, other news organizations and the Colorado Press Association, steadfastly and expertly defending the public’s right to know and the journalist’s right to report.