The Brown Act, officially known as the Ralph M. Brown Act (California Government Code Sections 54950-54963), authored by Ralph M. Brown, a Central Valley assemblyman representing Turlock, was enacted in 1953 by the California State Legislature in an effort to safeguard the public's right to access and participate in government meetings within the State. Ralph M. Brown was a member of the California State Assembly from Californias Central Valley representing Turlock. ... The California Central Valley Part of the Valley as seen from overhead A typical Central Valley scene at ground level The California Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of the state of California. ... Turlock is a city located in Stanislaus County, California. ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Californias Capitol, where the state legislature meets The California State Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of California. ...

The Brown Act, originally a 686 word statute that has grown substantially over the years, was enacted in response to mounting public concerns over informal, undisclosed meetings held by local elected officials which were not in compliance with requirements for advance public notice; instead, they were skirting laws by holding secret 'workshops' and 'study sessions'. The Brown Act solely applies to California city and county government agencies, boards, and councils, whereas the comparable Bagley-Keane Act mandates open meetings for State government agencies. A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ... The Bagley-Keane Act, officially known as the Bagley-Keane Open Meeting Act, mandates open meetings for California State agencies, boards, and commissions in order to facilitate accountability and transparency of government activities and protect the rights of citizens to participate in State government deliberations. ...

Intent of legislation

The introductory section 54950 states:

"In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares that the public commissions, boards and councils and the other public agencies in this State exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business. It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.

"The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created."

Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme authority over a geographic region, group of people or oneself. ... In politics, authority generally refers to the ability to make laws, independent of the power to enforce them, or the ability to permit something. ... A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy, usually within an institution of the government. ...

Original enactment

In October, 1952, a Sacramento Bee editorial opined: 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

"A law to prohibit secret meetings of official bodies, save under the most exceptional circumstances, should not be necessary. Public officers above all other persons should be imbued with the truth that their business is the public’s business and they should be the last to tolerate any attempt to keep the people from being fully informed as to what is going on in official agencies. Unfortunately, however, that is not always the case. Instances are many in which officials have contrived, deliberately and shamefully, to operate in a vacuum of secrecy."

Fiftieth anniversary

Supporters of the Brown Act say it still lacks enforcement, contending the law has been eroded by court decisions and government officials' efforts to block access to records. "The unfulfilled promise, I'm afraid, that 50 years has revealed, is enforcement," commented Terry Francke, of the California First Amendment Coalition, on the 50th anniversary of the bill's passage in 2003. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Brown Act Sections

• Title and definitions
• Adjourned or continued meetings
• Closed sessions
• Documents at meetings are public
• Emergency situations
• Electronic Communications
• Public is not required to provide their name or any information
• No action or discussion shall be undertaken on any item not on the agenda
• Notice of meetings
• Open Meetings
• Penalty to deprive the public of information
• Public comment
• Public criticism allowed
• Recording the proceedings -You have the right
• Reports of closed session actions
• Special meetings
• Taxes
• Time limits for public testimony
• When is does apply
• When it does not apply
• Willfully interrupting a meeting

See also

• Californians Aware
• California government and politics
• Conflict of interest
• Freedom of Information Act
• Sunshine law
• Transparency (humanities) (metaphorical term, also related to politics)

Californians Aware, The Center for Public Forum Rights, also known as CalAware, is a Carmichael, California based nonprofit organization established to help journalists and others keep Californians aware of what they need to know to hold government and other powerful institutions accountable for their actions. ... This article is about California government and politics. ... For the Babylon 5 episode, see Conflicts of Interest A conflict of interest is a situation in which someone in a position of trust, such as a lawyer, a politician, or an executive or director of a corporation, has competing professional and/or personal interests. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A sunshine law requires that a government makes its information and procedures available for inspection by the public, metaphorically letting the sun shine on the activities of government. ... In the physical sciences, specifically in optics, a transparent physical object is one that can be seen through. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calendar Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by...

Reference

• CFAC.org - 'Ralph M. Brown Act: California Government Code Sections 54950 et seq.'
• CSUS.edu Part I (pdf), Part II (pdf)- 'The Brown Act: Open Meetings for Local Legislative Bodies', California Attorney General Bill Lockyer (2002)

Bill Lockyer is the current Attorney General for the U.S. state of California. ...

External links

• CFAC.org - 'California First Amendment Coalition: Protecting & Defending California's Right to Know Since 1988'

• CNPA.com - 'Ralph M. Brown Act: 1953-2003 50th Anniversary: Brown Act and Beyond'
• Contra Costa Times - 'Brown Act backers say laws need teeth', Don Thompson (AP), Contra Costa Times (July 2, 2003)
• FAS.org - 'Project on Government Secrecy', Federation of American Scientists
• VanguardNews.com - 'The Brown Act: California Codes Government Code Section 54950-54963 (August 28, 2004)
• RCFP.org - 'The Door to Open Government in California', Duffy Carolan, Esq., Selena Poon Ontiveros, Esq., The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press