New York legislator proposes correction law with $100,000 fine for violators

NEW YORK — A New York assemblyman sponsored legislation in late March to require newspapers to run corrections and retractions on the same page where the original was published within one week of notification or face a fine of up to $100,000.

Assemblyman Pat Casale (R-Troy) said in a memorandum supporting the legislation that corrections are typically run several days after the erroneous news report and “buried” on the back pages of newspapers. “If the story was in the middle of the front page, put the correction in the middle of the front page, ” he told the Associated Press.

Rex Smith, editor of the Record in Troy, said in an editorial that Casale’s proposal was “awful and unconstitutional.” He said the bill would get the government into the business of dictating to newspapers what they must publish. “It is an astounding proposal that must appall anyone with the slightest respect for the Constitution of the United States.”

Smith said the bill is unlikely to pass because Democrats, who oppose the bill, outnumber Republicans 100 to 51.

(Bill 10421, Regular Session 94th New York State Assembly, 1994)

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