Press Coverage and Commentary

NEFAC receives considerable press coverage each year for its consistent advocacy of freedom of information and First Amendment concerns. Below are links to stories we’ve appeared in during the current year. Coverage from previous years can be seen here:

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Audit Finds Lack of Transparency in New Bedford Court Records
The New Bedford Light 4.23.24

The lack of transparency is not unique to records in the New Bedford District Court, said Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, which promotes public access to government. He described it as a quiet but sweeping issue within the state’s court system, in which records from many district courts are not made public. The organization recently published a letter of concern, calling for the state trial court to follow its own rules of public access. “They aren’t following their own rules. That’s a problem,” Silverman said, in a recent interview. “It’s an issue that’s prevalent in many, if not all courts in Massachusetts.” . . .  “It’s important to look at all corners of government to make sure the rules are being followed,” Silverman said. “To have that information online makes it very easy for the public to monitor cases and get a better understanding of what’s happening within the court systems.”

Ethics Panel: No Violation Against Sen. Ram Hinsdale
Vermont Community Newspaper Group 4.18.24

That the existence of the complaints themselves are not made publicly available is of concern, Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said. “A more reasonable way forward would be for the commission to make public the existence of the complaint so, at the very least, we all know that a complaint has been filed against a particular legislator,” he said. But, he noted, that keeping details of a complaint hidden until an investigation is determined necessary might be warranted “in that you don’t want members of the public to be filing meritless complaints against their legislators and abusing the process, which would certainly occur if all the details were revealed.”

Standing Up for Transparency
WUN 4.10.24

This legislative session, we are proud to be sponsoring APRA reform legislation. We have worked hard since the previous session to update this proposal based on discussions with, and feedback from, a wide range of stakeholders. And we are proud to stand with Access/RI, Common Cause Rhode Island, the New England First Amendment Coalition, the League of Women Voters, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Rhode Island Press Association in support of these needed reforms.

APRA Fight Has Government Protecting Government
East Bay Media Group 4.4.24

It would take most of a day to describe and debate every change contained within the new APRA bill. It is the result of a year and a half of meetings, compromises and revisions, led by a coalition of open government and good-government advocates. The agencies supporting this bill include the League of Women Voters, the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Rhode Island Press Association, Common Cause Rhode Island and the New England First Amendment Coalition. These are not radical groups attempting to bring down government. They are government watchdogs, representing the best interests of the people living in this great state.

Five Groups Call on Worcester to Restore Online Checkbook After T&G Report
Worcester Telegram & Gazette 4.2.24

“On behalf of the ACLU of Massachusetts, Common Cause, Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, MassPIRG, and the New England First Amendment Coalition, we write to raise serious concerns about your decision to end the City of Worcester’s Open Checkbook program and ask you to reverse course and restore the program as soon as practicable,” the groups wrote in a March 13 letter to City Manager Eric D. Batista. The letter was sent four days after the T&G reported that the city, citing cybersecurity concerns, said it would not be restoring access to its open checkbook website, a portal where the public could see the sums of money paid out by the city to vendors on behalf of taxpayers.

Is Transparency of Open Records Legislation Too Taxing for R.I. Officials?
Providence Business News 3.29.24

Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, says all of the proposed changes are “reasonable measures. “I think a lot of the concern over what is being proposed is unfounded,” he said. Public records laws in other states recognize there is a balance between transparency and the privacy of some information, Silverman says. “These changes are warranted,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Make Hybrid Meetings Permanent
The Harvard Press 3.22.24

Several bills in the Legislature propose to make remote access a requirement. One in particular has the support of a nine-member coalition that includes the New England Newspaper and Press Association (of which the Press is a member), the New England First Amendment Coalition, the League of Women Voters, and the Disability Law Center. That bill is H.3040/S.2024, currently in the hands of the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government. The bill has 55 sponsors, including Harvard’s representatives state Sen. James Eldridge and state Rep. Danillo Sena.

Lawmakers Scale Back Public Records Fee to Target ‘Largest, Most Problematic Requests’
New Hampshire Bulletin 3.21.24

The New Hampshire Press Association, ACLU of New Hampshire, New England First Amendment Coalition, and Right to Know NH opposed the bill, saying the hourly fees would make it more difficult to obtain information needed to hold government accountable. The groups worked with sponsor Rep. Katelyn Kuttab, a Windham Republican, on the amendment.

Public Meetings Must Be Made Hybrid
The Sun Chronicle 3.19.24

Several open meeting advocates, including the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, the Disability Law Center, the ACLU of Massachusetts, Common Cause Massachusetts and the New England First Amendment Coalition, are urging Healey to change her mind and support the effort to require hybrid meetings. The groups argue that remote meetings preserved public bodies’ ability to operate during the pandemic, but also “opened the door to civic engagement for members of the public and many people who had previously been shut out,” including seniors with mobility issues, people with disabilities, parents with young children, people with elder care and adult care responsibilities, people who can’t drive or afford taxis or rideshares, people with chronic medical conditions, and people who just want to know more about their government. “Remote access is the latest instance of universal design — alongside curb cuts, elevators, closed captioning, audiobooks, and other features — that began as accommodations and expanded to universal popularity,” the group wrote. “Like these innovations and others (that emerged) during the pandemic, remote access to public meetings should become a permanent feature.”

‘A Step Backward’ – Municipal Empowerment Act Draws Criticism From Open Government Advocates
The Shrewsbury Post 3.18.24

A coalition of various advocacy groups, including the New England First Amendment Coalition (NEFAC), ACLU of Massachusetts, Boston Center for Independent Living, Disability Law Center, Common Cause Massachusetts, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, MASSPIRG and the New England Newspaper and Press Association has voiced strong criticism regarding parts of Governor Maura Healey’s Municipal Empowerment Act, particularly sections 2-5. The concern primarily revolves around the bill’s potential impact on access to local government meetings. Instead of ensuring broader access through hybrid public meetings that include both in-person and remote participation options, the proposal leaves the format of local open meetings entirely up to the discretion of municipalities, the group stated in a press release.

Sunshine Week Marks Strides Made to Codify Our Rights
Sentinel and Enterprise 3.18.24

A public records response from the governor’s office offered a glimpse into some of the those involved in that order, but the Healey administration — after previously declaring it would “follow the public records law and provide more transparency” than previous governors — claimed several exemptions and withheld documents. That’s why we stand with open-government groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, Common Cause Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association and the New England First Amendment Coalition, in protecting the public’s right to know by promoting Sunshine Week.

New Hampshire Report: Sunshine Week
The Boston Globe 3.15.24

The panelists and their attentive audience had a lively back-and-forth at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics, which teamed up with the New England First Amendment Coalition and the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications to host the event. “I feel as though the courts in New Hampshire and the Supreme Court, with respect to certain specific cases, have come a long way,” said NEFAC President Gregory V. Sullivan, an attorney who has been involved in numerous noteworthy cases regarding access to public records. “I’ve only been doing this kind of work for 47 years now,” Sullivan said, drawing chuckles from the room, “and I’ve seen some real encouraging developments, particularly back in 2020.” Sullivan was referring to New Hampshire Supreme Court decisions in 2020 that overturned what he called “27 years of bad law.” The court effectively expanded the public’s access to records concerning police misconduct by narrowing the scope of what would qualify for the Right-to-Know Law’s “internal personnel practices” exception. Sullivan also lauded a 2023 decision in which the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that Nashua officials were required to search the city’s backup tapes for emails responsive to a records request. The city was also ordered to pursue additional training in the law.

Massachusetts is Failing on Government Transparency and Open Records, Advocates Say (video)
GBH News 3.15.24

NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman joins Talking Politics host Adam Reilly and Act on Mass Executives Director Erin Leahy to discuss Sunshine Week in Massachusetts. Silverman discusses the need for stronger public record laws and a requirement that all government bodies provide hybrid access to their meetings.

Sunshine Week Another Reminder to Strengthen Transparency in Maine Government
Bangor Daily News 3.14.24

Officials and entities should follow those requirements as a default, and Maine needs more tools in its FOAA toolkit to ensure that they do. This is not a new need. In 2022, New England First Amendment Coalition Executive Director Justin Silverman wrote a column in the BDN addressing some of the shortcomings of Maine’s FOAA law. He highlighted several avenues for strengthening enforcement. “Whether we grant the state’s public records ombudsman powers to enforce the law or provide statutory incentives such as mandatory attorney fees for prevailing plaintiffs, we need better tools to protect the public’s right to know,” Silverman wrote.

Don’t Think Open Government Matters to You? This Sunshine Week, Think Again.
Various Publications 3.11.23 – 3.16.24

NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman wrote an op/ed for Sunshine Week that appeared in publications throughout the region. The op/ed focuses on FOI laws in each New England state and how open government should matter to everyone. Below is a sampling of where it appeared:

VTDigger | Rhode Island Monthly | Caledonian Record | New Hampshire Bulletin | Greenfield Recorder | Eagle-Tribune | Athol Daily Times | Cleburne Times-Review | Weatherford Democrat | Salem News | Cullman Times | The Bedford Citizen | Daily Hampshire Gazette | Derry News | Gloucester Times | Vermont Community Newspaper Group (Stowe Reporter, The Other Paper, The Citizen, Shelburne News) | The Hull Times | Addison Independent

Hybrid Public Meetings are a Pandemic Innovation Worth Keeping
The Boston Globe 3.10.24

Unfortunately, however, the governor’s approach on those hybrid public meetings falls far short of a full-throated endorsement and could easily result in a whole lot of backsliding by municipalities. And as a coalition of open meeting advocates wrote in a recent letter to the governor and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, it represents “a step backward.” The open meeting provision in the governor’s legislation allows hybrid meetings but doesn’t require them. “Giving every government body covered by the OML (Open Meeting Law) complete discretion about how to provide public access to their meetings means people with disabilities, parents with young children, people with limited transportation, and others will be completely shut out when city councils, select boards or school committees decide to hold meetings exclusively in person,” the letter said. Among those signing the letter were the ACLU of Massachusetts, Common Cause Massachusetts, the Disability Law Center, the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association (of which the Globe is a member), and the New England First Amendment Coalition.

A Look Into Public Records Law: What Makes A Document Public?
The Enterprise 3.8.24

New Lawsuit Against BPD, BRIC Shows a Trend in Lack of Transparency
The Daily Free Press 3.7.24

Justin Silverman, the executive director for the New England First Amendment Coalition, said Massachusetts has some of the “the worst public records laws in the country.” “We need to know whether the government’s doing its job,” Silverman said. “That need becomes ever more acute when you’re dealing with law enforcement agencies.” Silverman said there is not an easy way to force law compliance outside of the court system, especially for most citizens who do not have the time and money to take their case to court. In 2016, however, the state added an attorney’s fee provision to the law in order to motivate attorneys to take on these cases on a pro bono or contingency fee basis, “ a good upward trend,” Silverman said. “Many other states have other types of remedies and ways to force compliance when an agency doesn’t want to follow the law, Massachusetts certainly doesn’t,” said Silverman, who added that First Amendment rights should be taken “very seriously.”

Bill Allowing Fees for Public Records Requests Hits Another Hurdle
New Hampshire Bulletin 3.6.24

House Bill 1002, which is opposed by the the New Hampshire Press Association, ACLU of New Hampshire, New England First Amendment Coalition, and conservative policy groups, cleared the House in February. But it was sent back to the House Judiciary Committee a week later after several House members said they voted for it without appreciating its potential implications on government transparency.

Bar: SJC’s Anti-SLAPP Ruling Will Clarify, Simplify Litigation
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly 3.6.24

For anti-SLAPP practitioners, the “second path” has meant a lot of extra work with “no real good effect,” said Boston’s Jeffrey J. Pyle, author of an amicus brief on behalf of the New England First Amendment Coalition. “It’s nice to be back in the Duracraft world,” he said. The impact of the Bristol decision will be to make anti-SLAPP practice a great deal more predictable and straightforward, Pyle added. “The subjective motivation test of Blanchard II made it such that it was sometimes difficult to predict how a court would come out on an anti-SLAPP motion, depending on how the court viewed the totality of the case, what the court thought of competing affidavits, what the court thought of the relative power of the parties or the timing of the filing of the lawsuit targeting petitioning activity, and how it weighted those various factors,” Pyle said. Even the SJC had noticed that the outcomes under the Blanchard test would vary greatly depending on how a court viewed the test and weighed the various factors, Pyle noted. “We’re now back to an objective test, not a totality of the circumstances test, and that is something that gives practitioners and clients a great deal more certainty,” he said.

New Hampshire State Police Backtrack After Saying Arrestee’s Name Wouldn’t Be Released
The Boston Globe 3.5.23

Gregory V. Sullivan, president of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said he’s never seen police issue a statement quite like the original one in this case. “I don’t think it was particularly judicious for the state police to issue this particular news release,” he said. Sullivan said police need to take a case-by-case approach to protect victims. They can, for example, redact victims’ names from public records. “But that does not include the name of the person arrested,” he said.

Lawyers Hail New Massachusetts Retaliatory Suit Protocol
Bloomberg Law 3.4.24

The Supreme Judicial Court “thankfully has thrown out that analysis as the pile of garbage that it is,” attorney Jeff Pyle said. The pathway “deprived people of the protection of the anti-SLAPP statute who the legislature intended to protect,” he said. For example, that pathway ended up denying some victims of assault and domestic violence protection when they were hit with SLAPP suits after speaking with law enforcement, Pyle wrote in an amicus brief for the New England First Amendment Coalition.

Legislative News
Greenfield Recorder 2.28.24

“It will shut people out of the democratic process by only allowing — and not requiring — municipalities to provide hybrid participation options,” the groups said in a joint statement. “Giving every government body complete discretion about how to provide public access to their meetings means people with disabilities or other reasons they can’t attend meetings will be completely shut out when city councils, select boards, or school committees decide to hold meetings exclusively in person.” Authors urged lawmakers to guarantee hybrid access to public meetings. Organizations that signed onto the joint statement include the ACLU of Massachusetts, Boston Center for Independent Living, Disability Law Center, Common Cause Massachusetts, League of Women Voters of Mass., the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, MASSPIRG, the New England First Amendment Coalition, and the New England Newspaper and Press Association.

Critics: Healey’s Municipal Reform Plan Limits Public Access to Meeting
Gloucester Daily Times 2.27.24

A coalition of open government and disability advocates voiced “strong concerns” about portions of the bill that deal with access to local government meetings. The groups, which include Disability Law Center, Common Cause Massachusetts, the ACLU of Massachusetts and the New England First Amendment Coalition, said the plan would “shut people out of the democratic process by only allowing — and not requiring — municipalities to provide hybrid participation options.” “Giving every government body complete discretion about how to provide public access to their meetings means people with disabilities or other reasons they can’t attend meetings will be completely shut out when city councils, select boards, or school committees decide to hold meetings exclusively in person,” they said in a statement.

Civic Documenters Program Engages, Empowers Citizens to Help Strengthen Local News
Laconia Daily Sun 2.20.24

“This is a special opportunity to not only help New Hampshire residents become more civic-minded, but to also support newsrooms. We hope CivDoc will continue to be a model for other towns in New England and will give local journalism a much-needed assist,” said Justin Silverman, executive director of New England First Amendment Coalition.

The Increasingly Important Role of Student Journalists
Various Publications 2.19.24 – 2.24.24

NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman co-wrote an op/ed for Student Press Freedom Day that appeared in publications throughout the region. The op/ed focuses on the need to support student journalists and the local news they are providing New England communities. Below is where the op/ed appeared:

The Clock | East Bay Newspapers | The New Englander | The Independent | Penobscot Bay Pilot

City Council Meetings Disrupted By Antisemitic Group Trying to Gain a Foothold in New England
GBH 2.14.24

Attorney Maggie Mulvihill, an associate professor of journalism at Boston University and a board member of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said that though speech by the Goyim Defense League and other neo-Nazis is troubling, “they have the right to speak.” “People say horrible, hateful things, but they have a right to do that unless it falls in these narrow categories, like it’s a true threat or it is inciting violence, like the Brandenburg decision,” Mulvihill said. “So, government agencies have to be very, very careful about restricting somebody’s speech.”

Your Right to Know (video)
The State We’re In 2.9.24

NEFAC President Gregory V. Sullivan joined journalist Annmarie Timmins and advocate Katherine Kokko on PBS’s The State We’re In. Sullivan discussed the state’s Right to Know Law and HB 1002, a bill that would allow public bodies and agencies to charge up to $25 an hour for record searches that take longer than 10 hours.

Why Do Lawmakers Want to Update the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act? (audio)
The Public’s Radio 2.8.24

The Public’s Radio afternoon host Dave Fallon spoke with Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, who consulted on the bill backed by Democrats.

City Councilors’ Dispute with Vocal Critics Escalates to Court Hearing
New Bedford Light 2.1.24

Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said that in light of the fact that parties to the hearing support opening the proceeding, there’s a good argument for doing so. “It strikes me as unusual,” Silverman said on Thursday morning. “I cannot think of another instance where the accused has asked that it be open and it’s denied.” According to published state standards, the privacy of show cause hearings is to benefit those who have been accused. But, in view of the fact that all parties in the hearing have been named publicly, Silverman said he could not understand the need to close the hearing. “We already know who these people are, so there’s no privacy left to protect,” he said.

How Much is That Public Records Request? McKee Orders RIDOT to Refund News Outlets
Rhode Island Current 2.1.24

WPRI investigative reporter and Target 12 Managing Editor Tim White said he’s happy McKee ordered the refund. “I hope this is a trend in the right direction,” said White, who was also a longtime board member of the New England First Amendment Coalition. White said he understands that work has to be put in to respond to records requests, but views fees charged to media “as a method to try and chill the request itself.” The real problem, he said, is getting a fee waived. APRA requires a requester to have a state judge review if “the information requested is in the public interest.” “I don’t think anyone can argue shedding light on what led up to the closure of the Washington Bridge isn’t in the public’s interest, yet requiring the public to petition the court to waive a fee is impractical,” White said. “It’s another example of why the law is deeply flawed and needs to be overhauled.”

A Call to Action: Protecting New Hampshire’s Right to Know Law
Eagle Times 1.30.24

The bill wouldn’t just infringe on the rights of citizens to discover what their government is up to; it would hamper efforts of news organizations like the Eagle Times. There is no carve out for the press in this legislation and we wouldn’t support it even if there were. Gregory V. Sullivan, president of the New England First Amendment Coalition, issued a statement saying: “House Bill 1002 is a monumental step in the wrong direction. If enacted, it will discourage and prevent the citizenry of New Hampshire from gaining access to public records.”

Group: Right to Know Bill ‘Step in Wrong Direction’
The Conway Daily Sun 1.30.24

The New England First Amendment Coalition recently called on New Hampshire legislators to reject a proposal that could significantly increase fees for public records. The proposal “is a monumental step in the wrong direction that, if enacted, will discourage and prevent the citizenry of New Hampshire from gaining access to public records,” said NEFAC President Gregory V. Sullivan in a Jan. 16 statement to the state’s House Judiciary Committee.

In Mass. Brothel Case, Lawyers for Suspected Sex Buyers Argue to Keep Magistrate Hearings Private
The Boston Globe 1.22.24

In other Monday filings, some advocates argued the proceedings should be open to the public. An attorney for the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association and the New England First Amendment Coalition said in an amicus brief that the matter is “of significant public importance and interest. “This sex-for-hire matter has attracted wide public attention and media coverage,” wrote the attorney, Peter J. Caruso. “The matter, unlike neighbor disputes and other minor matters of low public interest typically before a clerk-magistrate, cries out for open proceedings and open access to named individuals and evidence submitted during the hearing.”

First Amendment Group: Follow Your Own Rules, Massachusetts Courts
Boston Herald 1.6.24

The court system is designed to enforce the rules of its governing society, but one group is calling it out for not even following its own rules. “We want to bring to the court’s attention what we believe is a violation of its rules on accessing electronic records and ask that this violation be immediately remedied,” lawyers for the New England First Amendment Coalition wrote in a letter to Judge Jeffrey A. Locke on the last day of his tenure as the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court. Specifically, the letter states, state law regarding remote access to electronic court records specifies certain information should be made available online about every criminal case: the full name of each defendant, the case numbers by court department and division, the name and mailing address for each attorney who has made an appearance in the case, the docket number of the specific case and the court calendar for the case. “As of today, much of this information appears to be missing for members of the general public searching criminal cases using the state’s online court records portal,” the letter states. It says Superior Court cases tend to follow the rules, but cases at the level of Boston municipal courts or district courts do not.

A Lively Experiment (video)
PBS 1.5.24

NEFAC’s Ed Fitzpatrick joins Rhode Island Current’s Nancy Lavin, The Providence Journal’s Patrick Anderson and moderator Jim Hummel to discuss public records in the state. Conversation begins at 18:07.