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news feedQUICKLINK 2nd Cir. · January 5, 2009 · Freedom of information
Guantanamo detainee identities to stay secret
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The Defense Department does not have to release the names of Guantanamo Bay detainees who reported abuse by military personnel or who were suspected of abusing others, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan (2nd Cir.) decided Monday, overturning a lower court decision.
The three-judge panel held that The Associated Press’s Freedom of Information Act request for the detainee names and family member names and addresses should not be granted because of the detainees' privacy . . . [more]
— Hannah Bergman, 5:57 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Florida · January 5, 2009 · Secret courts
Jury may be anonymous in Fla. turnpike murder case
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Tampering and intimidation concerns may prompt a federal judge in Florida to seal juror names in the trial of two men accused of shooting a family to death on the side of a highway, according to Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers.
U.S. District Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley is set to consider keeping the jury anonymous in the case of Daniel Troya and Ricardo Sanchez Jr., both of whom could face the death penalty if convicted of crimes related to the 2006 . . . [more]
— Kathleen Cullinan, 5:53 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK District of Columbia · January 5, 2009 · Freedom of information
Blogger denied news media status in records request
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The transportation authority that runs Washington D.C.’s subway and bus system is denying that bloggers are members of the news media when they request public information.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority denied D.C.-area blogger Michael Perkins’s request for a news media designation under the entity’s access-to-records policy in late December.
Perkins sought a fee waiver for the information he was requesting because he planned to use it in news stories on . . . [more]
— Hannah Bergman, 5:52 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Massachusetts · January 5, 2009 · Intellectual property
Media sues media over linking on Web sites
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A battle over Web site links has landed two media companies in court.
GateHouse Media, which owns several hundred newspapers and Web sites, filed a lawsuit last month in federal court in Massachusetts against The New York Times Co. alleging copyright infringement.
The suit stems from a Boston.com local news site in Newton, Mass. that aggregates news content from area blogs and newspapers. The site displays the headlines and ledes of local stories, along with links to the original content. Boston.com, owned by The New York Times Co., launched the site last month as the first in a series of sites focusing on the Boston region, according to Boston.com.
GateHouse media owns three Newton-area news sources that Boston.com has culled material from – a free weekly newspaper called the Newton TAB, a daily newspaper, The Daily News Tribune, and the online version that publishes stories from both -- a . . . [more]
— Samantha Fredrickson, 5:47 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK New York · January 2, 2009 · Broadcasting
Man pleads guilty in Hezbollah TV case
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A New York City man has pleaded guilty to helping terrorists by enabling satellite access to Hezbollah-run television, The New York Times reports.
A judge in 2007 turned down Javed Iqbal's claim of First Amendment protection for providing access to the station, saying the federal charges passed muster because they targeted the action and not the content of speech, according to The Times.
Iqbal pleaded guilty last week to . . . [more]
— Kathleen Cullinan, 5:33 pm · Comments: 0
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Virginia · January 2, 2009 · Libel
Lobbyist in McCain ethics article sues NY Times
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A New York Times story about a rumored affair between Sen. John McCain and Washington lobbyist Vicki Iseman has landed the paper in a $27 million dollar legal battle, The Times reported.
In a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Virginia this week, the lobbyist sued the Times for defamation over a February article that she said insinuated McCain and Iseman were romantically involved. As one of her attorneys, Iseman recruited renowned First Amendment scholar and dean of the Washington & Lee law school Rodney Smolla, who usually represents the media side in such cases.
The 3,000 word article, titled "For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Own Risk," focused on McCain’s rise out of various ethical dilemmas, such as the “Keating Five” scandal in the late 1980s. The article led with reported . . . [more]
— Samantha Fredrickson, 5:31 pm · View reader comments (10)
QUICKLINK Michigan · January 2, 2009 · Reporter's privilege
Judge asked to hold Ashenfelter in contempt
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Former federal prosecutor Richard Convertino has asked a judge in Michigan to hold Detroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter in contempt for refusing to reveal his confidential sources during a deposition last month.
Convertino asked the court to fine Ashenfelter $500 a day for the first week he refuses to disclose his sources, $1,000 a day the following week, and $5,000 for each subsequent day, the Detroit . . . [more]
— Samantha Fredrickson, 4:56 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Virginia · January 2, 2009 · Secret courts
Attorney in Richmond Newspapers case dies
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The attorney who represented the Richmond Times-Dispatch in the landmark First Amendment case guaranteeing the public a right of access to attend criminal trials died on Wednesday. Alexander “Sandy” Wellford was 78, the newspaper said.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia in . . . [more]
— Hannah Bergman, 4:29 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Wisconsin · January 2, 2009 · Freedom of information
Government corruption investigators release few findings
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A new government investigations board in Wisconsin isn’t releasing the results of most of its inquiries, according to documents provided to The Associated Press.
The AP reported that the state Government Accountability Board, which was created a year ago to investigate government corruption, has only made public the results of 7 out of 29 completed investigations.
Local freedom of information advocates are pushing for a change in the laws governing the board’s documents, as is the board . . . [more]
— Hannah Bergman, 4:25 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK California · January 2, 2009 · Secret courts
Dentist asks court to exclude media from abuse trial
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A California dentist on trial for allegedly fondling more than a dozen patients has moved to exclude the press from the entirety of his trial, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Michael Rothschild, attorney for defendant Mark Anderson, filed a one-sentence motion asking the court to “exclude all media from all trial proceedings, including but not limited to jury selection, opening statement and witness testimony, in this matter.”
The First Amendment and California law strictly limit exclusion of . . . [more]
— Rory Eastburg, 4:22 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK U.S. · December 30, 2008 · Freedom of information
Feds net traveler data from airlines
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Curious about travel records the government keeps on him and others, reporter Sean O'Neill published the findings of his Freedom of Information Act request for information that airlines hand over to the Department of Homeland Security.
He learned that the feds hang onto the Internet IP addresses that identify your computer when you purchase a ticket online. Airlines have electronically turned this information over to Customs and Border Protection since 2002.
O'Neill noted . . . [more]
— Corinna Zarek, 3:45 pm · Comments: 0
QUICKLINK Missouri · December 30, 2008 · State open government
Missouri gov will turn over email
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Gov. Matt Blunt will give the Missouri attorney general's office thousands of pages of email records to settle a lawsuit against his office alleging he "knowingly and purposely" violated open records laws by deleting email messages.
In addition to the special investigators questioning Blunt's office's email retention practices, news media organizations had sought access to his email messages and some joined in . . . [more]
— Corinna Zarek, 3:43 pm · Comments: 0
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