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 It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Pete Weitzel, the Director Emeritus of the First Amendment Foundation and a tireless advocate for government transparency. Pete's remarkable career as a journalist and champion of open government shaped the landscape of press freedom and public access to information not just in Florida, but across the nation.
Pete dedicated nearly 40 years to the Miami Herald, serving as both a reporter and editor, before founding the First Amendment Foundation in 1984 during his presidency of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. His vision of a transparent government led to the Foundation’s creation, and he served as its president until 1995. His legacy includes drafting an amendment to the Florida Constitution, guaranteeing citizens the right to access government records, and his work on a Florida Supreme Court commission that helped modify court rules on public access to court records.
Among Pete’s many accomplishments, he played a pivotal role in establishing the National Freedom of Information Coalition, serving as its second president, and was a founding force behind Sunshine Week, launched in 2005 with the American Society of News Editors. His lifelong dedication to protecting and promoting the public’s right to know earned him numerous accolades, including his induction into Florida’s Freedom of Information Hall of Fame and the State Open Government Hall of Fame.
Pete’s legacy will live on through the many protections he fought for in support of the public’s right to know, and we at the Foundation will continue to honor his life’s work.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Neptune Society. For more information, please contact (817) 201-3468.
Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. |
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A newspaper beat a libel lawsuit filed by a politician – using a law that some politicians want to weaken
By Jason Garcia
Seeking Rents
June 28, 2024
The Orlando Sentinel invoked a legal shield to defeat a defamation claim made by a local lawmaker. Gov. Ron DeSantis and some other Republicans in Tallahassee keep trying to take that shield away.
Earlier this year, Carolina Amesty, a Republican state representative from central Florida, sued the Orlando Sentinel.
Amesty claimed that the newspaper had defamed her. But she pretty quickly backed down after the Sentinel invoked a longstanding state law meant to stop powerful people from filing flimsy lawsuits just to silence speech they don’t like.
The episode is an example of how Florida deters what are commonly known as “SLAPP” suits — an acronym that stands for “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation” and a type of suit that can be filed against everyone from neighborhood activists fighting a toxic landfill to a news and comedy show exposing coal industry corruption.
But some Florida politicians want to unravel those protections. Over the past three years, Republicans in Tallahassee ranging from Gov. Ron DeSantis to certain state legislators have proposed changes that would sabotage Florida’s anti-SLAPP laws.
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Texas councilwoman can sue over arrest she claims was politically motivated, Supreme Court rules
By John Fritze
CNN
June 20, 2024
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a Texas woman who served on a small-town council to continue her lawsuit against her mayor after she was arrested for what she claims were political reasons.
In an unsigned opinion, the high court said a federal appeals court took an “overly cramped view” of an earlier precedent that control when people may sue for First Amendment retaliation claims. Justice Clarence Thomas authored the only public dissent.
Sylvia Gonzalez was arrested in 2019 shortly after she took her seat as a council member in Castle Hills, Texas, following a campaign in which she heavily criticized the city manager.
Gonzalez, then 72, was arrested for stealing a government document at a council meeting – a charge that stemmed from what she said was an inadvertent shuffling of papers and what city officials said may have been motivated by a cover-up.
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A Florida Man Was Arrested for Filming Marion County Sheriff's Deputies. Now He's Suing.
By CJ Ciaramella
Reason
June 19, 2024
Numerous federal appeals courts have ruled that filming police is protected under the First Amendment, but police continue to illegally arrest people for it.
A Florida man has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit three years after a Marion County sheriff's deputy arrested him for filming officers from a public sidewalk.
In 2021, Marion County Sheriff's Deputy Neil Rosaci arrested George Nathansen and charged him with obstruction of justice for refusing to follow his orders to leave the scene of an investigation. However, body camera footage showed Nathansen standing at least 30 feet away on a public sidewalk before Rosaci walked over and handcuffed him.
In Nathansen's lawsuit, filed last Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, he alleges that Rosaci and the Marion County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) violated his Fourth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights by falsely arresting and incarcerating him.
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Los Angeles will pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit against journalist over undercover police photos
By Jaimie Ding
Associated Press
June 17, 2024
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles has agreed to pay $300,000 to cover the legal fees of a local journalist and a technology watchdog group that had been sued by the city last year for publishing photos of names and photographs of hundreds of undercover officers obtained through a public records request, the journalist’s attorney said Monday.
The photos’ release prompted huge backlash from Los Angeles police officers and their union, alleging that it compromised safety for those working undercover and in other sensitive assignments, such as investigations involving gangs, drugs and sex traffickers. The city attorney’s subsequent lawsuit against Ben Camacho, a journalist for progressive news outlet Knock LA at the time, and the watchdog group Stop LAPD Spying Coalition drew condemnation from media rights experts and a coalition of newsrooms, including The Associated Press, as an attack on free speech and press freedoms.
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