Freedom of Information Law: Opportunity and Threat?

A New York Times article this last weekend described a novel use of freedom of information law. The new owners of CourseRank.com (a course information website for college students like ratemyprofessors.com), requested aggregate grade data by course and professor from some 533 colleges nationwide, including Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, and the University of Florida. (Nova Southeastern University is included on the website, but does not seem to include grade distributions, which makes sense since it is not subject to Florida open-government law.)

Lisa A. Phillips, the author of the New York Times story and a SUNY New Paltz journalism professor, has ethical qualms about the impact this will have on grade inflation. She quotes experts who say both that it will contribute to grade inflation, by directing students to classes and professors with “better” grade distributions, and discourage it, but revealing which professors grade too leniently.

But what I (and my most excellent colleague Becka Rich, who brought this to my attention) think is more interesting are the implications of this.

First, there are the ethical issues, some of which are raised above. Second, there is the conflict with FERPA. The second question Becka asked me was, “Could this happen in Florida?” We now know that the answer is “Yes.”

This type of open-records request can be used in public-policy research: see Richard J. Peltz, From the Ivory Tower to the Glass House: Access to “De-Identified” Public University Admission Records to Study Affirmative Action, 25 Harv. BlackLetter L.J. 181 (2009). It has also been used by mainstream journalists, as with a recent Chicago Tribune series on politically preferential admissions at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (see all Chicago Tribume articles about the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign).

Florida Supreme Court Joins Twitter

On the main page of the Florida Supreme Court's website, you will now notice a tiny turquoise icon indicating that the Florida Supreme Court is using Twitter as a communication platform.  The first tweet was released on April 5, 2010, with subsequent tweets offering links to briefs, opinions, filings, and court news.  You can subscribe to an RSS feed of the tweets or follow the Florida Supreme Court on twitter via @flcourts.

Hat tip to The Florida Bar News.

Two New Florida Bar Certifications

Adoption and Education law certifications in Florida are the first of their kind in any state. FloridaBar

- By: Robert Hudson

Stimulus Checks used to serve warrants in Ft. Lauderdale

Findlaw covers the police ruse incorporating bogus stimulus checks that nabbed 76 individuals recently. Findlaw 

- By: Robert Hudson

Laws & Legal Heritage of Florida

From the Scout Report:

The Florida Law Collections document the laws and legal heritage of Florida through a wide range of texts digitized from the holdings of the University of Florida’s Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center, the State Library, and Archives of Florida, and several other key institutions. Specifically, the collection includes issues of the Journal of the Florida House of Representatives, the Florida Historical Legal Documents collection, a Florida Water Law collection that is particularly noteworthy, as well as other general texts on Florida laws, the legislative process, and government. Given the debates over water rights and usage throughout the state, the Water Law collection is a real find, and visitors can search over 7300 documents within the collection. From the homepage, visitors can perform advanced searches and also look over recently added items. Finally, visitors can also sign up to receive their RSS feed and contact the site administrators with any additional queries they might have.

- By: Robert Hudson

The Spirit of Anita Bryant’s Anti-Gay Crusade Lives On

A group called the Liberty Counsel has filed suit against the Florida Bar Board of Governors disputing the Board’s decision to allow the Florida Family Law Section to file an amicus brief.  The brief is in support of Eleventh Judicial Circuit Cindy Lederman’s 2008 decision declaring F.S. s.63.042(3) unconstitutional.

63.042(3) is the infamous section which declares:  “No person eligible to adopt under this statute may adopt if that person is a homosexual.”  This section was enacted in 1977, in response to Anita Bryant’s Save Our Children campaign. Liberty Counsel argues that by approving the filing of the brief, the Board violated its own policy against involving itself in issues that have the potential to deeply divide the Bar.  Barry Richard, outside counsel for the Bar, noted that membership in the sections is entirely voluntary, and that the Board’s decision was unanimous, which hardly seems to qualify this issue as deeply divisive.   Read all about it in The Florida Bar News.

- By: Deborah McGovern

“Why Minnesota 2008 Is Not Florida 2000″

Edward B. Foley, director of Ohio State University's Election Law @ Moritz, has posted a very interesting analysis of the current contest between Norm Coleman and Al Franken for Minnesota's senate seat. Among other points, he argues that, unlike the decisions in Florida's 2000 presidential election snafu, Minnesota's "judicial rulings over the counting of ballots do not appear to be a
partisan effort to tilt the legal playing field to assist a favored
candidate."  To read the entire post, click here.

Best Interests of the Child

Before the November elections, Florida was the only state with a statute forbidding an otherwise eligible person from adopting if that person was a homosexual Fla. Stat. 63.042(3) (2008).  This despite the fact that Fla. Stat. 63.022(2) (2008) clearly states that it “is the intent of the Legislature that in every adoption, the best interest of the child should govern and be of foremost concern…”

In November, Arkansas joined Florida in denying children loving parents.  Act 1 additionally bars adoption by unmarried heterosexual couples, thereby skirting an earlier Arkansas Supreme Court decision striking down a regulation which barred homosexual couples from becoming foster parents.

Arkansas has made some curious choices.  A conviction for a major crime, say contributing to the delinquency of a minor, does not make you ineligible to adopt.  Neither does being single, and having a lot of casual sexual partners.  See this editorial in the New York Times  However, if you are in a committed relationship with a partner to whom you are not married, Arkansas automatically deems you unfit to adopt. Anita Bryant is to blame for Florida’s ban on adoption by homosexuals, what’s Arkansas’ excuse?

- By: Deborah McGovern

No revenue…shall be taken

Article I, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution provides, in a section significantly titled Religious freedom:  “No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.”  Hernando County’s Tourist Development Council, however, is set to spend county funds to publicize the Hernando Freedom Fest, an event sponsored by a Christian clergy group at which the gospel of Jesus Christ will be proclaimed.  As Dan DeWitt points out in the St. Petersburg Times, the separation of Church and State declared in both the United States and Florida Constitutions has worked well for religious groups in the UnitedStates, because public funds are,in theory at least, not spent promoting any one religion over the host of others which exist in this country.  It seems Hernando County is enforcing tithing (albeit at less than the going rate) on its citizens. 

- By: Deborah McGovern

Florida’s Pet Buyer Protection Law

In Florida both cats and dogs are subject to an exhaustive ’pet lemon law’ according to the pet-trust-law-blog. Blog

- By: Robert Hudson