NEFAC Executive Director to Moderate Discussion on COVID-19, Accessing Public Health Data

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT Justin Silverman | 774.244.2365 | justin@nefac.org

Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, will lead a discussion today on the challenges facing open government during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation is part of the 2020 National Freedom of Information FOI Summit.

More information about the FOI Summit and how to register can be found here.

NEFAC’s participation in the program is the latest example of how the coalition is helping during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about NEFAC’s work here.


Accessing Health Information During a Pandemic
September 25 | 2 p.m. EST | Register

AMANDA FRENCH | French is Community Lead and Data Entry Shift Lead at The COVID Tracking Project. The Project is a volunteer organization launched from The Atlantic and dedicated to collecting and publishing the data required to understand the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States.

JUSTIN SILVERMAN (moderator) | Silverman is executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition. He is a Massachusetts-based attorney, as well as a former journalist and publisher. He teaches First Amendment Law at New England Law | Boston and the University of Maine School of Law.

GUNITA SINGH | Singh is the 2019/2020 Jack Nelson/Dow Jones Foundation Legal Fellow for the Reporters Committee where she works on litigation, policy, and amicus work, primarily around state and federal freedom of information laws while also helping reporters and news organizations with records requests.

AL-AMYN SUMAR | Sumar is counsel for The New York Times where he focuses on newsroom issues, litigation and policy matters. Sumar previously worked at the law firm of Ballard Spahr. He also clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.


NEFAC was formed in 2006 to advance and protect the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. We’re a broad-based organization of people who believe in the power of an informed democratic society. Our members include lawyers, journalists, historians, academics and private citizens.

Our coalition is funded through contributions made by those who value the First Amendment and who strive to keep government accountable. Please make a donation here.

Major Supporters of NEFAC include Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Paul and Ann Sagan, The Boston Globe, WBUR, Boston University and the Robertson Foundation.