Los Angeles Superior Court class action over court records

"Los Angeles Superior Court failed to destroy information on more than 35,000 marijuana-related offenses, and publishes it in an online index of criminal cases that lists the charges but not the dispositions, which hurts people looking for work, a class action claims in Superior Court.
Two Doe plaintiffs say the court has maintained "a purported 'index' of criminal cases for Los Angeles County ... that can be name searched by anyone by remote electronic access.""

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

License plate reader may invade privacy

"Asset recovery businesses have always been trying to do more with less. Now, some of them are taking advantage of cameras and digital imaging. But privacy experts say it's a slippery slope.

For repossession agencies, it is clearly breakthrough technology. It is the exact same technology police use - license plate recognition technology through high-speed digital cameras mounted on the hood and trunk.

John Henderson, owner of Niagara Frontier Recovery, has been using the system for a few years.

"My cameras read the license plate on that car. It comes into our system, and it's saved into the system," explained Henderson.

Photos of the plates pop up on a laptop computer inside the repo truck. The plate numbers are then checked against a national database of vehicles to be repossessed, compiled from lein holders."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Louisiana adoption registry available to birth mothers, adoptees

"Birth mothers who have placed their children for adoption might find themselves thinking about those children and where they are now, and adoptees might be similar thoughts about them as well.

The Lafayette Diocese's Office of Catholic Social Services is a strong advocate of open adoptions, in which birth mothers remain in contact with children and adopted families."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Wisconsin court decision to keep inmate employers secret appealed

"Do taxpayers have a right to know where prison inmates are working? The Wisconsin Department of Corrections doesn't think so.

On Wednesday, FOX 11 On Special Assignment first reported on the state's work release program, where hundreds of prison inmates in Wisconsin are holding down jobs on the outside. We wanted to find out where. But so far, the Department of Corrections has refused to release that information. Now, FOX 11 decided to file an appeal."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Wisconsin public records law requires disclosure of law firm invoices for county's defense

"A state appeals court says law firm invoices are considered “public records” – and subject to an open records request – because they were “collected under” an insurance contract entered into by the county. The county obtained insurance for legal defense in disciplinary matters."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Plan to restrict public-records data draws mounting opposition

"Opposition to a proposal to remove certain personal data from court records is mounting and with good reason. Or good reasons, we should say.


The Oklahoma Supreme Court has proposed what's known as Rule 31, which would lead to the removal of such information as dates of birth and addresses from court records. The court has sought public comment on the proposal, and it sure got an earful.

We in the news business have long opposed the move because it would make it more difficult for reporters and editors to verify identities and uncover background information on people in the news.

But now, members of law enforcement, district attorneys' offices and the business community have come out against the proposal, for varying reasons."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

D.C. Courts Fight the Future in New Electronic Device Rule

"The Blog of the Legal Times reports that the Superior Court of the District of Columbia -- the local trial court for the nation's capital -- has issued a new administrative order regarding use of electronic devices in the courthouse. And like other courts, the new rules impose a class system of "haves" and "have nots" -- favored types of the people can have and use the devices, while everyone else can not. The rules also contain an archaic view of electronic devices that effectively means that even when the rules allow them to be used, they cannot be used for any modern, web-based functions."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Free UK Company Director Check

"Company Director Check (http://company-director-check.co.uk/) is a sister database to Company Check (http://companycheck.co.uk/), which I reviewed earlier this year (http://www.rba.co.uk/wordpress/2011/01/10/free-uk-company-information/). It provides free access to information on current and past directors of UK companies that until now has only been available for a fee."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator News: Court rules in favor of service of process via Facebook

Read the order
Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Lawyer and client must pay big sum for rigging Facebook, which juror says didn’t matter

"Isaiah Lester’s slain wife was sitting in the passenger seat when an Allied Concrete truck carrying 36,000 pounds of cement slammed into his Honda Accord on June 21, 2007. The wrongful death suit he filed against Allied and truckdriver William Sprouse in the Virginia Circuit Court in Charlottesville has proved to be another ordeal of reckless conduct.

In late September, a Virginia state judge reduced Lester’s $8.6 million jury award by more than $4 million and found that Lester and his former attorney, Matthew Murray, must be sanctioned for tampering with Facebook evidence. The judge has now ordered Murray to pay $522,000 for instructing his client to remove photos from his Facebook profile and Lester to pay $180,000 for obeying the instructions."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal website removes state workers' historical pay

"Visitors to the Illinois Transparency and Accountability Portal website can look up state expenditures dating to 2008. But if the expenditure you’re curious about is a state employee’s salary, you can look them up only through last year.

The local state representative behind the portal, Mike Tryon, R-Crystal Lake, said he intends to fix the shortcoming, which was revealed in a Wednesday report by the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank.

Illinois has been removing information about how much state employees were paid in past years while past departmental spending has remained online, according to the policy institute’s report, “Now You See It, Now You Don’t.” Salary histories used to go back to 2008, policy institute Executive Vice President Kristina Rasmussen said."  
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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

New Hampshire public employee pensions are a public record

"The public’s right to know trumps the privacy rights of the top 500 state pension earners, and now their names and salary amounts must be disclosed, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The Union Leader of New Hampshire sued the N.H. Retirement System for access to the names under the state’s Right-to-Know Law.

In a unanimous decision, the state’s highest court found the need for public transparency outweighed concerns over personal privacy of the government retirees."
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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator Research Links - Oct 2011

• Non-Current - Telephone and City Directories in the Library of Congress
  

• Financial Data - Non Publicly Traded Companies

• Telephone Number Caller Identification

• How to find types of information with a search engine

• Kerry Ireland Graveyard Records

• Search graveyards in Ireland

• Dublin family history resources

• Ireland Family History records online

• Genealogy resources links

• Mine the Web Like a Journalist

• California Nursing Home search - citations and violations

The rest of my favorite links are here.

Kern County removes data on political contributions

"It's disappointing and unfortunate that political contributions to those running for office in Kern County will no longer be available on the county Elections Division's website.

The reports were taken offline after local elections officials realized they may be violating a section of the California Public Records Act, which prohibits state or local agencies from publishing the home addresses or telephone numbers of elected officials and certain public employees online. Provisions in the law cover such a large group of people, including almost anyone who works in the criminal justice system, that verifying which campaign contributors might be public officials is virtually impossible.

To comply with the law, other counties redact all address and phone number information from campaign reports before posting them online, either by hand or through the electronic systems used to file those reports."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator