News

A District Court judge ruled this week that the Detroit Free Press must hand over documents and provide a witness in a long-running case involving former federal prosecutor Richard Convertino and his quest to reveal a reporter’s anonymous source. Judge Robert Cleland’s ruling requires the Michigan newspaper to turn over documents directly or indirectly related to Convertino and present a witness who can testify at a February deposition for the former prosecutor's lawsuit against the Department of Justice.

A Washington state appellate court on Monday upheld the dismissal of a defamation lawsuit filed by a Seattle transitional housing service against a local television news station, while avoiding ruling on a challenge to the constitutionality of the state's anti-SLAPP law. The defamation suit stems from stories televised in 2010 by KIRO TV and later published on its website detailing the practice of U.S. Mission Corporation in using residents of its transitional shelters, some of whom had criminal backgrounds, to solicit door-to-door donations.

Supporting documents can remain hidden when filed in a court case that settles before a decision is reached, according to a ruling last week by the Washington state Supreme Court. According to the state constitution, “justice in all cases shall be administered openly,” creating a presumption of public access to court documents in most cases. The state’s courts had previously interpreted that part of the constitution to apply only to documents that were “part of the administration of justice.”

A Virginia woman being sued by her home contractor for libel won't have to remove negative comments she posted on Internet review sites about him, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled. The state’s high court reversed a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge’s ruling ordering Jane Perez to delete portions of her review of the contractor on Yelp and Angie’s List. In her review, Perez mentioned that her jewelry was missing. She also referenced the outcome of a suit brought by the contractor against Perez for nonpayment.

The Florida attorney general has dropped its efforts to compel a reporter’s testimony in the ongoing case against a former aide to the state’s lieutenant governor. Attorney General Pam Bondi withdrew an appeal Wednesday of a trial judge’s November order, which said that Florida Times-Union reporter Matt Dixon could not be compelled to testify in the state’s case against Carletha Cole. According to court documents, the state was “voluntarily dismissing” its appeal. The Jacksonville newspaper had planned to fight the appeal.

A Tennessee court has ruled that a private nonprofit athletic association is the equivalent of a government agency, making it subject to public records laws. The (Nashville) City Paper filed a petition in the Chancery Court for Davidson County seeking access to information from the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, which had previously denied the newspaper’s request, arguing that it is not a public government entity.

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a lower court’s decision that the open meetings provisions of the state’s Freedom of Information Act is unconstitutional, stating that questions about how the law applies to changes in technology and other concerns should be taken to the legislature, not the court. But the Supreme Court also upheld the circuit court’s ruling that local government officials did not violate the Act when an administrator met with city board members in a series of one-on-one meetings.