These rights are complementary. Open meetings and public records laws keep information about civic issues freely available. Protections for journalists, activists, whistleblowers and others striving to keep the community armed with the facts and their implications complete the circle of law that it takes to keep Californians aware.

After all, ready access to government meetings and files means little if no one dares report or comment on what they learn. And people willing to take a stand and speak out are easily disabled and discredited if the facts and discussions that advance government and other powerful institutions are sealed away from their discovery.

Still others are privately owned sectors opened by tradition or law to some civic discourse: newspaper editorial pages, radio talk shows and certain large shopping malls where patrons are encouraged to congregate without having to buy. The most dynamic public forum is the newest — in some spaces private but in many others welcoming news, views and discussion — the Internet.

• Excessive official secrecy: A public starved of the facts that are staples of speech.
• Intimidation or retaliation: Too high a price placed on inquiry, reporting or comment.
• Eroding opportunity: Dwindling space or time for expected and protected speech.

We offer resources to fight them, without partisanship or ideology. Our only agenda is to allow others’ agendas, however tentative or unpopular at the moment, to be offered and debated for whatever support they may attract. The task has three levels:

• Encouraging the improvement of public forum law in the Legislature and the courts.
• Promoting better practices and better observance of the law by public agencies.
• Assuring that citizens know their rights and protections and how to use them confidently.

• Work to preserve and extend your liberties and protections before your speech or civic action puts them into play.
• When you do need it, provide information and experienced guidance on how to deal with forces striving to keep you in the dark, keep you silent or keep you excluded from a public forum.
• If, finally, suing or defending a suit is the only option, help you find a lawyer experienced in public forum law.

Specifically, we can help if you are, for example:

• A reporter kept from a news scene, a government file or a court proceeding or document on grounds that may or may not reflect the law, or facing legal risks or threats in pursuing a story.
• A parent kept from addressing the school board or denied access to relevant information about what the district did or plans to do.
• A taxpayer who can’t get answers about how public funds were spent or who played a role in changing or bending the rules that affect your home or business.
• A teacher threatened with reprisal for speaking your mind, or a student newspaper editor told you have to kill a story.
• A petition signature gatherer or activist pamphleteer prevented from approaching fellow citizens door to door, on the street or in a shopping complex.
• A condominium owner who wants to get messages to neighbors about how the homeowners’ association is being run — messages embarrassing to the management.
• A college student kept out of meetings of student government that decide how your fees are spent or other important campus issues.
• A neighborhood organizer warned to stop criticizing a project development or face a bankrupting lawsuit.
• An elected board or council member warned to stop asking inconvenient questions at public meetings, or questioning staff about a constituent’s neglected concerns.
• A watchdog ordered to stop videotaping the meeting of a public body.