NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   4th Cir. · July 29, 2010 · Privacy

Appeals court says posting of personal data is free speech

A Virginia woman who protested the government's perceived mismanagement of sensitive personal data by posting unredacted information from government documents online can continue her crusade, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Betty "B.J." Ostergren, a self-proclaimed privacy rights advocate, created a website called The Virginia Watchdog to protest the availability of Virginians’ personal information on the Internet. On her website, she posts government employees' personal data, including Social Security numbers, to draw attention to the fact agencies frequently post unredacted personal information online.

After the state legislature passed a law that prohibited re-posting of Social Security numbers even if already available online -- an action she claimed was geared toward stopping her website -- Ostergren brought a lawsuit claiming her First Amendment rights had been violated.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond (4th Cir.) agreed with her this week when it upheld a lower federal court ruling in Ostergren’s favor.

The state of . . . [more]

— Cristina Abello, 6:10 pm   ·   Comments: 0

 NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   U.S. · July 29, 2010 · Freedom of information

Critics say Wall Street reform bill exempts SEC from FOIA

A new financial overhaul law is drawing renewed scrutiny over a provision that some argue potentially insulates the Securities and Exchange Commission from complying with public records requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law by President Obama on July 21, contains several provisions affecting the transparency of government entities. One notable provision in the act -- section 929I -- allows the SEC to refuse to comply with FOIA requests regarding the agency’s “surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities.”

The SEC does not have to disclose information it obtains during those activities if it comes from regulated groups such as broker-dealers, investment companies and investment advisers.

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Thursday he would introduce a bill to repeal the provision.

“Regardless of intent, both Democrats and Republicans alike should agree that we cannot allow this regulatory body that failed to catch Allen . . . [more]

— Mike Torralba, 6:07 pm   ·   Comments: 0

 NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   2nd Cir. · July 27, 2010 · Reporter's privilege

Appeals court vacates adverse reporter's privilege ruling

A federal appellate court has vacated a lower court ruling that a New York Daily News gossip columnist’s recorded interview would have to be disclosed to a litigant.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in New York City (2nd Cir.) threw out a lower court order stating that columnist George Rush’s 22-minute taped interview with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had to given to attorneys representing an anonymous Epstein victim.The New York Daily News fought the subpoena, citing reporter’s privilege and the Second Circuit noted that the victim had already settled out of court.

The District Court on May 21 had denied the paper’s motion to quash the subpoena, and had granted the plaintiff’s counsel access to the recording and a transcript.

After that decision, the paper and Rush had appealed and filed a motion to vacate the ruling because the court had not applied a high enough standard, stating, “In sum, the District Court failed to perform its gatekeeping function before compelling disclosure of privileged newsgathering . . . [more]

— Cristina Abello, 6:30 pm   ·   Comments: 0

 NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   Pennsylvania · July 27, 2010 · Freedom of information

Minor league team ordered to disclose contract bids

A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled last week that a minor league baseball team's management group that contracts with a public stadium authority must disclose concessionaires' bids for contracts under the state's public records law.

The July 22 order affirms both a lower court ruling and a determination by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, which ordered the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees to release the concessionaire contract bids requested by a local newspaper under the state Right-to-Know Law.

The Scranton Times Tribune in January 2009 requested from the Lackawanna County stadium authority access to and copies of all names and bids submitted to the Yankees for concessionaire contracts at their home stadium. The stadium authority denied the request, claiming that because the Yankees’ management group held the records, the bids were not subject to the public records . . . [more]

— Miranda Fleschert, 6:23 pm   ·   Comments: 0

 NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   District of Columbia · July 26, 2010 · Prior restraints

D.C. judge issues injunction against news organization

The National Law Journal has been prohibited by court order from publishing information it obtained legally.

D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff issued a temporary restraining order against the National Law Journal last Friday after she discovered the news organization was planning to publish a story regarding the fee dispute between District of Columbia-based law firm Hogan Lovells and one of its former clients, beverage maker POM Wonderful. POM had hired Hogan Lovells to represent the company during a regulatory investigation.

According to the terms of Bartnoff’s order, the Journal is not allowed to publish certain information, including the name of the government agency that was conducting the investigation. The news organization had legally obtained the information through public court documents before POM convinced the court that six of the documents should be sealed.

“If I am throwing 80 years of First Amendment jurisprudence on its head, so be it,” the judge . . . [more]

— Mara Zimmerman, 5:55 pm   ·   View reader comments (1)

 NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   Illinois · July 23, 2010 · Secret courts

Court to decide on release of Blagojevich juror names

The federal judge presiding over the corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich appears reluctant to release the names of the jurors who will decide the former Illinois governor's fate.

U.S. District Judge James Zagel on Thursday listened to arguments presented both by the government and a media coalition on whether or not the names of jurors empaneled in the trial should become public. The news organizations, including the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times, argued that keeping the names secret violated the public's right to an open court system.

"There are no juror safety issues in this case, and the juror's individual desire for privacy is not sufficient justification by itself to withhold his or her identity," wrote the news organizations in a memorandum to the court.

The government pushed for the names to be kept secret, arguing that the Wednesday arrest of a journalist who was questioning an attorney in the case shows that the media can be disruptive to proceedings.

Judge Zagel appeared to sympathize with the government, stating that it was his duty to . . . [more]

— Mara Zimmerman, 5:18 pm   ·   Comments: 0

 NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   California · July 22, 2010 · Reporter's privilege

Search warrant for Gizmodo editor's home withdrawn

California county officials last week withdrew a search warrant that was executed months earlier when government-authorized agents from a technology crime task force searched the home of an online news editor and seized computers and servers related to his coverage of an Apple iPhone prototype.

Government-authorized agents from the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team, which investigates technology-related disputes or crime, in April used the warrant to enter and search the home of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen after the technology website published stories about a yet-to-be-released iPhone model, which was purchased without Apple's knowledge from another individual. The government was reportedly considering whether to file criminal charges in connection with the site’s purchase of a lost iPhone and there was some dispute as to whether the phone had been stolen or lost by an Apple employee.

Though Chen and Gizmodo have agreed to voluntarily furnish law enforcement with specific information about how they obtained the phone now that the search warrant has been withdrawn, the website, owned by . . . [more]

— Cristina Abello, 5:11 pm   ·   Comments: 0

 NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   New York · July 20, 2010 · Freedom of information

Judge rejects ACLU's request for information on detainees

A federal judge in New York has decided that he lacks the authority to order the government to disclose information regarding the treatment of Sept. 11 detainees – even if the government’s actions were unlawful.

“Courts are not invested with the competence to second-guess the CIA Director regarding the appropriateness of any particular intelligence source or method,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.

Thursday's ruling comes in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union for documents detailing the government’s treatment of suspected terrorists, including records related to the destruction of videotapes documenting the interrogations. A criminal investigation into why the tapes were destroyed is ongoing.

The ACLU contends that the government’s treatment of detainees violated both domestic and international law. Therefore, according to the ACLU, the information should not be considered “intelligence sources and methods” that are exempt from disclosure under federal public . . . [more]

— Brian Westley, 5:51 pm   ·   Comments: 0

 NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   U.S. Supreme Court · July 20, 2010 · Freedom of information

Justices to resolve appellate court split over FOIA exemption

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in a case over whether the Navy must release information related to military weapon caches near communities in Washington state under the Freedom of Information Act.

The case began in 2003 when Puget Sound resident Glen Scott Milner, a member of the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, an organization dedicated to raising community awareness of military explosive hazards, requested records from the Navy related to the locations and potential blast ranges of the weapons held at Washington’s Naval Magazine Indian Island.

The Navy released about a thousand pages responsive to Milner’s request but withheld 81 documents, claiming these records were exempt under a FOIA exemption that protects the disclosure of records "related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency.”

Milner filed suit to compel disclosure of the remaining documents but in 2007 a federal district court determined, without holding a trial, that the Navy, which argued that release of the records could be used to plan an attack or disrupt Navy operations on the island, had . . . [more]

— Miranda Fleschert, 5:41 pm   ·   Comments: 0

More items:

  Jul 19: U.S. · Senate unanimously passes libel tourism bill

  Jul 19: Wisconsin · High court rules personal e-mail is not public record

  Jul 16: PRESS RELEASE · Media groups files brief in military funeral protesters case

  Jul 16: Pennsylvania · University lodges appeal to keep foundation records private

  Jul 16: 2nd Cir. · Judge orders Berlinger to turn over portions of footage

  Jul 15: 2nd Cir. · Appeals court hears oral arguments in 'Crude' case

  Jul 14: Washington, D.C. · Access to high-profile obscenity trial partially blocked

  Jul 13: 2nd Cir. · Appellate court rejects FCC's indecency policy

  Jul 13: U.S. · Senate committee passes libel tourism prevention bill

  Jul 9: Nevada · Nevada high court says portions of gun permit records public

  Jul 7: Washington, D.C. · Two victories for government in FOIA fee award disputes

  Jul 6: Illinois · Appeals court orders hearing on Blagojevich juror names

  Jul 2: U.S. · White House unveils system to create online identities

  Jul 1: North Carolina · N.C. judge orders blog to disclose anonymous commenters

  Jun 30: International · Puerto Rico journalists fight for access to Senate

  Jun 28: Washington, D.C. · SEC subpoenas target whistle blowers' e-mail with reporters

  Jun 25: Maryland · High court to rule on disclosure of racial profiling complaints

  Jun 24: U.S. Supreme Court · Court finds petitioners' rights don't trump open records law

  Jun 24: New York · Friend-of-the-court briefs filed in case over 'Crude' outtakes

  Jun 24: U.S. · Senators introduce new libel tourism bill in committee

  Jun 24: U.S. Supreme Court · High court rules that former Enron executive got a fair trial

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