The Florida Sunshine Review spotlights the latest news on Florida open government laws and freedom of information (FOI) issues, with special emphasis on open records and open meetings developments. For similar Florida items plus mass media news, see the monthly Brechner Report from the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida.

January 31, 2006

*Naples Daily News, by Janine Zeitlin: Judges sides against newspapers seeking priests records (*free registration required) …
Palm Beach Post, by Stephanie Slater: Study urges clarifying data on sex offenders …
*Boca Raton News, by Dale M. King: Lawmakers seek to criminalize raids on cell phone records (*free registration required) …
Fort Myers News-Press, by Grant Boxleitner: Secret sex records help sexual offenders slip through the cracks …
St. Petersburg Times, by Dave Gussow: Verizon lawsuit says phony callers seeking cell phone information are engaging in fraud …

January 30, 2006

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Florida Times-Union editorial: Jacksonville City Council members' discussion of a public issue through e-mail defied the spirit of the state’s open government laws …
*Miami Herald, by Mary Ellen Klas: Companies that secretly obtain and sell cell phone records are under fire from state and federal regulators (*free registration required) …
Reuters, staff report: Sprint Nextel sues to stop the parent company of four data brokers it said used fraudulent means to obtain and sell wireless customer call records …
Daytona Beach News-Journal, by James Miller: Volusia County process in selecting a county manager raises open meeting concerns …
*Miami Herald, by Noah Bierman: Removal of Florida International University student newspapers raises First Amendment records (*free registration required) …

January 25, 2006

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*Florida Times-Union, by Beth Kormanik: Jacksonville City Council may have violated Sunshine Law with e-mail discussion (*free registration required) …
Associated Press, by Brent Kallstad: Florida attorney general sues a South Florida company and its officers over selling confidential cell phone and telephone records through its Internet sites…
Tallahassee Democrat, by Bill Cotterell: Senator pushes for inquiry on whether secret state personnel records were sent to India, Barbados and possibly China for computer scanning …
Daytona Beach News-Journal, by Ray Weiss: Sunshine Laws get review during workshop for officials in Volusia and Flagler counties …

January 22, 2006

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Daytona Beach News-Journal, by Ray Weiss: Sunshine Law seminar coming Tuesday for officials in Volusia and Flagler counties …
Chicago Sun-Times, by Frank Main: Illinois has become the first state to sue an information broker for obtaining cell phone records and selling them on the Internet; the case involves Florida-based 1st Source Information Specialists Inc. and its directors, Kenneth W. Gorman and Steven Schwartz …

January 15, 2006

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Suwannee Democrat: Official records at the Suwannee Clerk of Courts Office are now online …
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, by Brian Haas: The family of a 23-year-old man killed by the Sunrise Police Department's SWAT team has filed a lawsuit saying the city broke public records laws by not turning over documents related to his death …
Lakeland Ledger, by Dana Wilhoit: Internet pornographer will avoid jail in plea deal …
*Naples Daily News, column by Phil Lewis: Supreme Court nominee Alito weighs in on the First Amendment (*free registration required) …

January 10, 2006

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St. Petersburg Times, by Carrie Johnson: Open government experts fear that using e-mail and cell phones to conduct government business is diminishing public oversight …
Tallahassee Democrat, by Bill Cotterell: It’s odd that Gov. Jeb Bush’s administration seems blithely unconcerned about state personnel information that might be floating around cyberspace …
*St. Augustine Record, by Peter Guinta: County code enforcement officer in St. Johns County takes offensive billboard against him in stride (*free registration required) …
*Naples Daily News editorial: Student newspaper at Florida Gulf Coast University offers a lesson (*free registration required) …
St. Petersburg Times, by Philip Gailey: Noted journalist Martin Dyckman retires from the St. Petersburg Times …
*Fort Pierce Tribune editorial: Fort Pierce City Commission may take to cable TV (*free registration required) …