Deck 6: Access to Places and Information

Question 1

At the scenes of accidents,crimes,and natural disasters,newspeople in all states have a legal right to

A)obtain press passes from law enforcement agencies.
B)assume the risk of injury and cross police lines.
C)enter any area where law enforcement personnel are present.
D)None of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The federal Sunshine Act applies only to

A)the executive branch.
B)agencies headed by a collegial body of two or more members.
C)agencies headed by members who are appointed by the president.
D)All of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The state open-meeting laws typically apply to

A)any state-funded organization.
B)the multi-member,deliberative bodies of local government.
C)multi-member agencies at the state government level.
D)Both b and c

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Trespass sometimes constitutes a crime as well as a tort.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT one the typical exceptions to the public-meeting requirement?

A)labor negotiations
B)real estate negotiations
C)legislation enactment
D)personnel matters

Question 6

When members of the media are welcomed upon privately controlled property,

A)consent does not necessarily extend to all newsgathering activities.
B)consent automatically extends to the full range of newsgathering activities.
C)videotaping can be prohibited,but audio taping cannot.
D)separate,express consent is always needed to photograph or tape events that occur on the property.

Question 7

To enforce the provisions of the Sunshine Act against a federal agency,a lawsuit must be filed in

A)Federal District Court.
B)the U.S.Court of Appeals.
C)Federal Circuit Court.
D)Supreme Court of the United States.

Question 8

Thanks to the First Amendment,journalists while in hot pursuit of a story are generally immune to trespass law.

Question 9

When plaintiffs in trespass cases are unable to show they were actually harmed,courts have traditionally awarded

A)presumed damages.
B)special damages.
C)nominal damages.
D)punitive damages.

Question 10

Plaintiffs can win a civil trespass case without showing that defendants entered their property with any mischievous or malicious intent.

Question 11

When government voluntarily opens its facilities to the general public,it generally may

A)exclude the media.
B)exclude particular members of the media.
C)prohibit cameras or tape recorders.
D)All of the above

Question 12

Sometimes consent to enter private property is implied,under the legal doctrine of

A)due process.
B)custom and usage.
C)equal access.
D)journalistic privilege.

Question 13

When photographers trespass,do landowners have the immediate legal right to confiscate any film that was shot while trespassing?

A)Yes.
B)Yes,but only if No Trespassing signs had been posted.
C)No.
D)No,unless the trespass was willful.

Question 14

State open-meeting laws require not only that meetings be conducted openly,but also that

A)agencies provide advance public notice of their meetings.
B)agencies make videotapes of all their meetings.
C)media cameras be allowed at the meetings.
D)All of the above

Question 15

Whether a "meeting" is taking place is determined by

A)the number of agency members present and the place where discussions occur.
B)the nature of the discussion and the place where discussions occur.
C)the number of agency members present and the nature of the discussion.
D)the nature of the discussion alone.

Question 16

With the OPEN Government Act of 2007 Congress created the Office of Government Information Services to

A)convert all executive-branch documents to digital form.
B)ensure that all agency Web sites are consumer friendly.
C)audit FOIA compliance and mediate disputes.
D)ensure that all states comply with federal Sunshine Act mandates.
Questions 21-25 relate to the following facts:
Your editor sent you to the Mojave Naval Weapons Center to cover the test of a new anti-aircraft missile.But when you arrived at the gate you were told the center was off limits to the public.You were thus prevented from viewing the test,and this significantly limited your coverage.Several days later the Navy completed a report on the missile test.You wrote to the Navy's Freedom of Information officer,requesting a copy of the report under the federal FOI Act.

Question 17

In two recent Supreme Court cases,Wilson v.Layne and Hanlon v.Berger,law enforcement officers brought media along during residential searches.The Court said the government could be liable for

A)the tort of intrusion.
B)criminal trespass.
C)violation of the equal-protection clause.
D)violation of the homeowners' Fourth Amendment rights.

Question 18

The FOIA specifies how many disclosure exemptions that government may use to keep documents secret?

A)9
B)12
C)52
D)316

Question 19

Under the federal Freedom of Information Act,the public and media have a right to inspect documents of

A)the executive branch of government,excluding the president and his immediate staff.
B)Congress,including almost all congressional committees.
C)the federal courts at all levels.
D)All of the above

Question 20

The open-meeting laws authorize closed sessions,sometimes called ________,when certain topics are discussed.

A)covert sessions
B)executive sessions
C)in-house sessions
D)privileged sessions

Question 21

If the Navy refuses to allow you a copy of its report,this refusal:

A)Would violate the FOI Act unless an exemption category applies to this report.
B)Would NOT violate the FOI Act unless the report comes under one of the categories of information that must be made public.
C)Would NOT violate the FOI Act because that law doesn't apply to the military branch of government.
D)Would clearly be REQUIRED under the FOI Act.

Question 22

Which one of the following statutes was probably violated when you were excluded from the test viewing site?

A)The federal Sunshine Act of 1976
B)The federal Freedom of Information Act
C)The federal Privacy Act of 1974
D)None of the above.

Question 23

If you wanted to appeal the Navy's initial refusal of your FOI request,you would first appeal to:

A)Any member of Congress
B)The U.S.Court of Appeals
C)The head of the Navy
D)None of the above,because the initial judgment of an FOI officer is considered final.

Question 24

Would your exclusion from the test viewing site constitute a First Amendment violation?

A)No,because the First Amendment only protects against speech abridgments by Congress or the states.
B)No,because the First Amendment generally does not guarantee access to government information.
C)Yes,because the Supreme Court has ruled that access to news cannot logically be separated from reporting.
D)Yes,because merely viewing the test would not pose a threat to national security.

Question 25

According to the Freedom of Information Act,how much time does the Navy have to respond to your document request?

A)24 hours.
B)20 working days.
C)One month.
D)Three months from the date of receipt.