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news feedQUICKLINK California · July 24, 2008 · Reporter's privilege
Judge won't make Gertz testify, but prosecutors might
A federal judge in California ruled Thursday that Washington Times reporter Bill Gertz will not have to testify about confidential sources who may have given him leaks of grand jury information.
According to the New York Sun, Gertz invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid answering questions in court.
Judge Cormac Carney said the public’s interest in preserving a free press outweighed the interest of forcing Gertz to . . . [more]
— Stacey Laskin, 5:09 pm [link] Keywords: Shield Law; Testifying against sources · Comments: 0 · Comment
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE U.S. · July 23, 2008 · Reporter's privilege
Pence and Mukasey square off on Shield Bill
Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Attorney General Michael Mukasey sparred over the proposed federal shield law Wednesday during Mukasey’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
Pence, responding to Mukasey’s comment that the shield bill represents a “solution in search of a problem,” instead categorized the proposal as a “response to a rising erosion of our First Amendment freedom of the press.”
To support his view, Pence, who sponsored a version of the shield law that the House of Representatives passed 398 to 21 in October, pointed out Mukasey’s fuzzy math in downplaying the widespread use of subpoenas in federal courts. Mukasey has repeatedly noted that the Justice Department only issued 19 source-related subpoenas on the media.
Pence said Mukasey’s numbers do not account for subpoenas issued by civil litigants or special prosecutors. Since 2001, Pence reported, at least 19 additional journalists have been subpoenaed by both federal and special prosecutors.
Mukasey, who as a federal judge sitting in the Southern District of New York quashed a subpoena . . . [more]
— Matthew Pollack, 5:50 pm [link] Keywords: Attorneys General; Legislation; Shield Law; Subpoenas · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK California · July 23, 2008 · Reporter's privilege
Washington Times reporter calls confidential sources essential to his job
Washington Times reporter Bill Gertz told a federal court Tuesday that protecting the confidentiality of his sources is "absolutely essential" to his ability to do his job.
Gertz was subpoenaed after The Times published an article in May 2006 about the Chinese espionage case citing unnamed sources. U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney . . . [more]
— Virgie Townsend, 5:10 pm [link] Keywords: Confidential source issues; First Amendment; Subpoenas · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK New York · July 23, 2008 · Secret courts
Most grand jury testimony from Rosenberg trial to be released
A federal judge in New York decided Tuesday not to release the grand jury testimony of a crucial witness in Ethel Rosenberg's 1950s espionage case, although other related witness transcripts will be made public, The New York Times reported.
Open government advocates and historians, including the Washington, D.C.-based National Security Archives, petitioned Judge Alvin K. . . . [more]
— Stacey Laskin, 5:07 pm [link] Keywords: Closed court records; Criminal trials; Grand Jury; New York; Sealed records; Secrecy · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK U.S. · July 22, 2008 · Freedom of information
Bills, lawsuits attempt to thwart private prisons' escape from FOIA
Two Democratic lawmakers are looking to hold private prisons housing federal inmates to the same Freedom of Information Act standards as federal facilities. But while their bills sit in Congress, the First Amendment Center reports, open government advocates are coming at the issue from a different angle.
Two recent lawsuits aim to increase the flow of information from private prisons using FOIA, according to the First Amendment Center. Miranda Fleschert, 6:01 pm [link] Keywords: Government records; Prisoner rights · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK U.S. · July 22, 2008 · Internet regulation
Lawsuits against bloggers increasing domestically and abroad
The domestic and international blogging communities are increasingly facing lawsuits and threats of legal action, the Christian Science Monitor reported on Wednesday.
Since 2004, there have been 159 civil and criminal court actions revolving around bloggers, according to the nonprofit Media Law Resource Center (MLRC). Bloggers in seven cases have been hit with a cumulative $18.5 million in damages, the Christian Science Monitor said; . . . [more]
— Virgie Townsend, 4:45 pm [link]
Keywords: Arrest; Bloggers; Lawsuits; Libel
· Comments: 0 · Comment
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE U.S. · July 21, 2008 · Broadcasting
FCC Super Bowl fine out of bounds, court says
A federal appeals court today decided CBS Corp. will not have to pay a $550,000 fine for the 2004 Super Bowl half-time show’s “wardrobe malfunction.”
In the half-time show, pop singer Justin Timberlake reached for Janet Jackson's costume as he sang the lyrics, "Gonna have you naked by the end of this song." A moment later, Timberlake tugged on the fabric, and millions of Americans watched Janet Jackson's breast flash across their television screens.
The Federal Communications Commission slapped CBS with a $550,000 fine, one of the highest ever over a broadcast.
The U.S Court of Appeals in Philadelphia (3rd Cir.) on Monday found that the FCC acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in deviating from its 30-year-practice of only fining broadcasters when indecent programming was so “pervasive as to amount to ‘shock treatment’ for the audience.”
The FCC had claimed the fine was authorized under a two-part test published in a 2001 policy statement. Under the test, a . . . [more]
— Stacey Laskin, 5:56 pm [link] Keywords: Broadcast regulation; FCC; Indecency · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK Michigan · July 21, 2008 · Newsgathering
Detroit reporters won’t have to testify on text messages sources
A Wayne County judge ruled Thursday that the embattled Detroit mayor and his ex-chief of staff can't force reporters to reveal how they obtained the former couple's flirtatious text messages.
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty wanted to depose reporters from the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News to discover who leaked the potentially incriminating text messages. Their lawyers sought the depositions . . . [more]
— Virgie Townsend, 4:24 pm [link] Keywords: Michigan; Public figure; Text messaging · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK District of Columbia · July 21, 2008 · State open government
Proposed bill would remove Smithsonian’s FOIA exemption
Two U.S. senators introduced legislation this week that would remove the Smithsonian's exemption from the Freedom of Information Act and the Sunshine Act, according to the Washington Post.
Republican Sens. Charles Grassley and Arlen Specter are co-sponsors of the Open and Transparent Smithsonian Act, which would force the Smithsonian to hold meetings in public . . . [more]
— Virgie Townsend, 4:16 pm [link]
Keywords: FOIA reform; Public meetings; Public Records
· Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK Pennsylvania · July 18, 2008 · Reporter's privilege
15 Pa. reporters won't have to testify
A Pennsylvania judge quashed controversial subpoenas yesterday, deciding that 15 reporters summoned in a grand jury leak probe will not have to testify about their sources, the Associated Press reported.
Defense lawyers asked that the reporters testify to help determine whether a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate apparent breaches of grand jury . . . [more]
— Stacey Laskin, 3:59 pm [link]
Keywords: Confidential source issues; Shield Law
· View reader comments (1) · Comment
QUICKLINK Rhode Island · July 17, 2008 · State open government
Rhode Island AG targets mayor's office for withholding records
The attorney general of Rhode Island filed a lawsuit against the city of Cranston on Wednesday over alleged violations of the state's public records law, The Providence Journal reported.
Patrick Lynch is suing on behalf of a local radio disc jockey who waited months for the city to produce records on long-distance phone calls and other matters, The Journal said. The disc jockey, John Bina, is currently running for a position on the city . . . [more]
— Stacey Laskin, 5:32 pm [link] Keywords: City politics; Open Records; Public Records · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK Pennsylvania · July 17, 2008 · Secret courts
College slow to report sex assault
Pennsylvania State University waited three months to publicly report a sexual attack on a female student, originally terming the incident an “assault on a female, ” the school's Daily Collegian reported.
Campus security officials are defending that move, even though there was no direct violation of the federal Clery Act. That law requires universities to report crimes “considered by the campus to . . . [more]
— Stacey Laskin, 5:26 pm [link] Keywords: Public Records; Public universities · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK California · July 17, 2008 · Reporter's privilege
Judge asks Wash. Times reporter to justify refusal to give up sources
A California judge subpoenaed Washington Times reporter William Gertz in May over suspected grand jury leaks in a Chinese espionage case. Now, if Gertz refuses to divulge his sources, as he's indicated he will do, the judge wants him to appear in court and say why.
The New York Sun details the concerns of free-press advocates about the implications of Judge Cormac Carney's request. The judge wants Gertz to . . . [more]
— Kathleen Cullinan, 5:22 pm [link] Keywords: Confidential source issues; Grand Jury; Judges · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK Minnesota · July 17, 2008 · Prior restraints
Protesters can't get any closer to the RNC
A federal judge in Minnesota yesterday rejected protesters’ requests to get closer than 84 feet from the Republic National Convention, as currently allowed under a St. Paul city protest permit.
As The Associated Press reported, Judge Joan Erickson wrote that the request for closer proximity, from the Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War, created security hazards.
The coalition estimates that 30,000 to 50,000 participants wanted to get closer . . . [more]
— Stacey Laskin, 5:17 pm [link] Keywords: ACLU; Political conventions; protesters; Republican National Convention · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK Idaho · July 17, 2008 · Secret courts
Death penalty proceeding to be open, after all
A federal judge in Idaho reversed his own decision closing a sentencing-related hearing today in the case of a man convicted of killing four people, including two children.
Joseph Duncan’s lawyers protested closure of the courtroom, calling the judge “overzealous,” in a motion filed earlier this week, reported The Seattle Times and The [Spokane] Spokesman-Review. Duncan could get the . . . [more]
— Stacey Laskin, 5:15 pm [link] Keywords: federal court access; Sealed cases · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK Oregon · July 16, 2008 · Reporter's privilege
Ore. activist won't have to give grand jury tape of rally arrest
An Oregon videographer is off the hook after prosecutors backed off their bid for unpublished segments of a tape he shot at a rally, which they had planned to present to a grand jury, according to The [Eugene] Register Guard.
Tim Lewis invoked the state shield law in court papers filed before a hearing set for Tuesday, only to have prosecutors withdraw their subpoena for video he . . . [more]
— Kathleen Cullinan, 5:05 pm [link] Keywords: Grand Jury; Shield Law; Videotapes · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK Oklahoma · July 15, 2008 · Libel
Newspaper claims libel against author of phony article
An online sports hoax bashing the Oklahoma Sooners has Nebraska football fan James W. Conradt in hot water with the publisher of the state’s largest newspaper and one of its sportswriters, according to The Associated Press.
Conradt, who works as an IT manager for the University of Texas, allegedly used a template . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 3:51 pm [link]
Keywords: Bloggers; Defamation; Libel
· Comments: 0 · Comment
PRESS RELEASE · July 15, 2008 ·
Reporters Committee urges military to allow press back into Arlington funerals
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press urges Army Secretary Pete Geren to allow journalists to cover military funerals at Arlington National Cemetery when a service member’s family has given permission for such coverage. . . . [more]— Posted at 3:48 pm [link] · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK 4th Cir. · July 15, 2008 · Libel
Appellate court affirms summary judgment in Hatfill libel suit
A federal appeals court in Richmond, Va. (4th Cir.) on Monday upheld the dismissal of a libel suit brought by former Army scientist Steven Hatfill against the New York Times.
Hatfill alleged that a series of columns by Nicholas Kristof implicated him in the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people and sickened 17 others.
The court held that Hatfill was a public figure because he publicly discussed the threat of bioterrorism and the nation’s lack of preparedness for such an attack both before and after the attacks.
“Throughout his career, . . . [more]
— Matthew Pollack, 10:27 am [link] Keywords: Hatfill; Libel; Summary Judgment · Comments: 0 · Comment
SIDEBAR U.S. · July 14, 2008 · Freedom of information
Despite fewer FOIA requests, agencies still lag behind
Despite a recent report commending government agencies' progress in responding to FOIA requests, a new study shows they haven't come as far as they might like to think.
A look at 10 years' worth of agency statistics by the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government showed that agencies' actual performance of their own established goals and Congressionally mandated reporting fell somewhat short of the "remarkable improvements" the Justice Department touted in mid-June.
A major ongoing problem with FOIA has been the backlog of requests that have accumulated over the years. The study showed that agency requests decreased in the 10 years covered, but the backlogs steadily increased over that period -- from 13% in 1998 to 33% in 2007.
Agencies also granted fewer requests -- only 60% of requesters received full or partial grants of . . . [more]
— Corinna Zarek, 5:23 pm [link] Keywords: FOIA enforcement · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK Oregon · July 14, 2008 · Reporter's privilege
Subpoenaed photographer refuses to hand over video
A independent videographer says he will not comply with a subpoena in a grand jury investigation into possible criminal activity at an Oregon pesticide rally.
The cameraman, Tim Lewis, invoked the state's shield law to protect his footage of an 18-year-old University of Oregon student lying facedown on the ground after police used a stun gun to incapacitate him. He . . . [more]
— Stacey Laskin, 4:50 pm [link] Keywords: Photography & videotaping; Shield Law · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK Michigan · July 11, 2008 · Reporter's privilege
Detroit papers fight depositions in mayor's text message scandal
Two Detroit newspapers are fighting indicted Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's attempts to depose their reporters amid his ongoing legal woes.
Kilpatrick's team wants to question reporters from the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News to figure out who leaked the salacious and potentially incriminating text messages that sparked his perjury case, The News reported. Lawyers for the papers filed a motion . . . [more]
— Kathleen Cullinan, 12:32 pm [link] Keywords: Public Records; Text messaging · Comments: 0 · Comment
QUICKLINK U.S. · July 10, 2008 · Newsgathering
Army fires whistleblower who wanted press access to military funerals
The Army fired Arlington National Cemetery’s public affairs director late last month after a struggle over Army restrictions on press access to the funerals of soldiers killed in the Iraq war.
Gina Gray, who took over as the public affairs director just three months ago, made . . . [more]
— Miranda Fleschert, 5:50 pm [link] Keywords: Iraq; Photographers; U.S. Army · Comments: 0 · Comment
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