Florida Phoenix by Michael Moline
October 21, 2019
Pamela Marsh, a former U.S. attorney in Tallahassee, will lead the Florida’s First Amendment Foundation following the retirement of director Barbara Petersen.
The transition will happen on Dec. 1, the foundation said Monday in a press release.
Pamela Marsh
“Perhaps now more than ever, the mission of the foundation is critical to Florida communities and to a thriving democracy,” Marsh said. “Barbara Petersen built her legacy fighting for open access to government meetings and public records, to ensure that the public stays well informed and able to participate in government and be heard.”
Petersen praised the hire, saying of Marsh: “She has a passion for open government and buckets of energy; she’s smart and curious and will take FAF into its next phase.”
Marsh served between 2010 as 2015 as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida, which sprawls across 23 counties from Escambia to Alachua. More recently, she’s been a shareholder of the Ausley McMullen law firm in Tallahassee.
The Florida Press Association, the Florida Society of Newspapers Editors, and the Florida Association of Broadcasters launched the foundation in 1984 to promote open government and access to public records through litigation, training programs, and lobbying. Petersen became president in 1995 and will continue to advise the foundation.