Florida First Amendment Foundation Sunshine Report – Fall 2012

From the First Amendment Foundation of Florida:

Petersen Wraps up Annual Sunshine Seminars

Two weeks, eight seminars, and 2,000 miles on a rental car. Who's tired?

In 1995, the First Amendment Foundation started an annual series of Sunshine Seminars, offering basic open government training to citizens, the media, and government officials and employees. … This year, it was standing room only for most of these perennially popular seminars, and a couple, including the seminar hosted by the Lakeland Ledger, sold out weeks in advance.

In addition to our annual sunshine seminars, the Foundation provides individualized training sessions for organizations and groups interested in learning more about Florida's sunshine laws. If you're interested in scheduling a workshop or training session, please contact Rosemary Calhoun at rosemary@floridafaf.org.

FAF Creates New Legal Fellowship Position

The First Amendment Foundation is Florida's first responder on open government – we answer open government questions through our toll-free FOI Hotline, provide expert analysis on an increasing number of legislative proposals, write position papers on key open government topics, and, most recently, respond to the erosion of open government through correspondence with government officials.

The demand for our legal services is growing, and in order to meet that increased need, FAF is creating a Legal Fellowship position – open to third year law students or recent graduates – to complement the Foundation's watchdog work. The Fellow will work directly with FAF's President Barbara Petersen and General Counsel Jon Kaney, providing assistance during the legislative session, answering questions from the FOI Hotline, and drafting position papers and legal briefs and correspondence.

 

FAF Receives Two Project Grants

The National Freedom of Information Coalition has awarded the Foundation two important project grants, one that will allow FAF to develop a mobile app for iPhones and androids, and another to improve and continue the Sunshine Statutes project.

For more details of FAF in the news, please view the complete newsletter (PDF/287KB).