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December 2006 - Posts

Monday, December 25, 2006 9:00 PM

Your sources or your freedom

The prosecutors in the BALCO case have demanded two San Francisco Chronicle reporters turn over their sources or go to prison for 18 months. The SF Chronicle has the latest details. The Wall Street Journal has a piece looking at possible efforts in Congress
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Friday, December 22, 2006 12:19 PM

Thank you LDF supporters

As we approach the end of the year, I would like to thank everyone who has supported the Legal Defense Fund this year and over the years. Without your donations to the auction, your purchases at the auction and your overriding support for the
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Thursday, December 21, 2006 10:01 PM

Two journalists get subpoenas in probe of soldier

A freelance journalist said she has been subpoenaed by U.S. Army prosecutors to testify about one of her sources, a 28-year-old officer facing a court-martial for refusing to go to Iraq. In May, Sarah Olson conducted an interview with 1st Lt.
posted by MikeKnaak | 0 Comments
Thursday, December 21, 2006 10:01 PM

Bill shielding police statements heads to Michigan governor

The state House in Michigan voted unanimously yesterday to send Gov. Jennifer Granholm a bill that would keep involuntary statements made by police officers from appearing in the media. The bill, S.B. 647, would make confidential the involuntary
posted by MikeKnaak | 0 Comments
Thursday, December 21, 2006 9:53 PM

2006 legal developments

Gannett General Counsel Barbara Walls writes about the year's legal developments including access to courts and public documents.
posted by MikeKnaak | 0 Comments
Thursday, December 21, 2006 7:13 PM

Criminal Libel Laws Are Alive, At Least in Colorado

Journalists don't worry much about criminal libel in the United States, but that doesn't mean the law has disappeared. Criminal libel is still on the books in a handful of states, including Colorado where a former high school student recently pleaded
posted by NeilRalston | 0 Comments
Wednesday, December 20, 2006 1:16 PM

Journalists and news observers take whack at Santa Barbara lawsuit

Publisher Wendy McCaw's lawsuit against the AJR reporter who wrote about the troubles at the Santa Barbara paper is taking some criticism. Editor and Publisher has the story and includes comments from SPJ President-elect Clint Brewer: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=100352352
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 2:40 PM

Owner of Santa Barbara paper sues AJR writer

The unpleasentness at the Santa Barbara newspaper has spilled into court. Publisher Wendy McCaw is suing a Chapman University professor who wrote an article in American Journalism Review detailing disputes at the paper that have led to a number of resignations
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Friday, December 15, 2006 3:38 PM

Texas tries for a shield law

Journalists in Texas are working to try to get a Shield law that would protect journalists from having to reveal sources. Supporters testified before the state legislature Thursday. This would help cases in state court, but not in federal court. Journalists
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Thursday, December 14, 2006 9:21 PM

Sanford steps in on libel case

Bruce Sanford, one of the top First Amendment lawyers in the country and SPJ's lawyer, is taking a big libel case in Illinios. It features a state Supreme Court justice suing a paper. The Chicago Reader has that story: http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/hottype/061208/
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Thursday, December 14, 2006 2:34 PM

It's the ACLU's Turn Now, Are Journalists Next?

A federal prosecutor is using a grand jury subpoena to try to force the ACLU to turn over any and all copies of a classified document the organization received back in October.The move is an attempt to prevent the dissemination of information that the
posted by NeilRalston | 0 Comments
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 7:45 PM

States say journalists deserve protection

SPJ is behind the two San Francisco Chronicle reporters  http://www.spj.org/ldf-a.aspwho are facing government pressure to reveal their soruces in the Barry Bonds steroids case. Now a bunch of states are backing them up too, saying that it serves
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 1:12 PM

Legal updates

The Washington Post briefs section has updates on two media law issues. First, the court has settled an issue with classified information in the CIA leak case involving Scooter Libby. A Washington state Congressman has had his knuckles rapped by an ethics
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Monday, December 11, 2006 8:37 PM

Anthony Lewis Talks About Anonymous Sources, Supreme Court Rulings

The First Amendment Center has posted the transcript of a discussion with veteran legal  reporter and multi-Pulitzer Prize-winner Anthony Lewis.In the wide-ranging talk, Lewis explains why he thinks Judge David Tatel made the right decision in the
posted by NeilRalston | 0 Comments
Monday, December 11, 2006 3:41 PM

A tangled Webb

Former AP reporter Robert Parry revisits long and sad tale of Gary Webb, a former San Jose Mercury News reporter.
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Sunday, December 10, 2006 9:34 PM

Student Rights Bill to Target Washington State

A Washington State University student is looking to team up with a legislator to try to improve protections for college and high school journalists in the Evergreen State. The Student Press Law Center has the story (read it here) about WSU student
posted by NeilRalston | 0 Comments
Saturday, December 09, 2006 6:54 PM

Penn. town council seeks reporter's sources

Joe Zemba is a freelance reporter for the Catasaqua Press in Pennsylvania. He wrote a story using annonymous sources saying that ciy public works staff had illegally buried paint. The council wants to know who talked to him and conducted a five-hour hearing
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Wednesday, December 06, 2006 7:20 PM

College Newspapers Protest Action at Univ. of Southern California

    Several college newspapers throughout the country today ran an editorial criticizing the University of Southern California for refusing to reinstate the editor of the student newspaper, the Daily Trojan.    An administrator
posted by NeilRalston | 0 Comments
Wednesday, December 06, 2006 3:29 PM

Newspaper theft no longer just a campus affair

    David Hawpe of the Louisville Courier-Journal has a column in today's edition that talks about several instances of newspaper theft, including one at The Mountain Eagle, a community newspaper in Letcher County, Kentucky.    
posted by NeilRalston | 1 Comments
Wednesday, December 06, 2006 11:40 AM

The latest on NY Times anthrax case

In January, the LDF committee decided to contribute $250 to an amicus brief in case against the New York Times. Stephen Hatfill, a researcher who the FBI had considered a suspect in the Anthrax case in 2001, is suing the paper. The paper has asked a
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Wednesday, December 06, 2006 11:23 AM

Professor appeals libel decision

A professor at St. Cloud State University has appealed a court's dismissal of a libel suit he brought against the campus paper. Richard Lewis had accused the newspaper of libeling him by quoting a former student who said Lewis was anti-Semitic.
posted by MikeKnaak | 0 Comments
Tuesday, December 05, 2006 11:33 AM

Mad about James Madison

A University of Kentucky media law professor has written a book on James Madison and the work he did to get the Bill of Rights into the Constitution. Madison, of course, is who we owe the First Amendment to. In the city that bears his name, the Madison,
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Monday, December 04, 2006 10:37 PM

South Korea Trip Brings Perspective

    We Americans like to boast about the freedoms of speech and the press that result from the First Amendment. But when four other SPJ members and I attended the Asia Journalists Association forum in South Korea last week, I got a different
posted by NeilRalston | 0 Comments
Monday, December 04, 2006 11:37 AM

Court: Sun reporter should get records

A New York Sun reporter won a battle with the Department of Justice. Josh Gerstein wanted to know which government employees were disciplined for leaking to journalists. His FOIA requests had been denied. The Sun has the story: http://www.nysun.com/article/4450
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Friday, December 01, 2006 4:47 PM

SF open-government committee wants federal Shield Law

It would be nice to see groups across the country come out for this. In San Francisco, a Sunshine committee has voted to support a federal Shield law. The Shield law is also an SPJ priority. SPJ's FYI FOI blog and its esteemed chairman Joel Campbell
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Friday, December 01, 2006 4:40 PM

NY Times researcher must stay in Chinese prison

Zhao Yan is expected to complete his three-sentence in September after a Chinese court rejected the appeal of his fraud conviction. The Times has  the details: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/01/world/asia/01zhao.html?_r=1&ref=media&oref=slogi
posted by DaveAeikens | 0 Comments
Friday, December 01, 2006 1:57 AM

Federal law protects online publication of defamatory posts made by others

A recent ruling by the California Supreme Court intepreting Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act highlights the differences between online publishing and traditional print publishing. Web sites with reader comment, forums and story chat features
posted by MikeKnaak | 0 Comments