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Digital Journalist's Legal Guide
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Everything online journalists need to protect their legal rights. This free resource culls from all Reporters Committee resources and includes exclusive content on digital media law issues.

News

Format: 2013-05-06
Format: 2013-05-06
Bill would keep lawsuits secret for 5 days
March 8, 1994
Bill would keep lawsuits secret for 5 days 03/08/1994 TENNESSEE -- The state Senate in Nashville passed a bill in late February that would keep civil lawsuits secret for five days after they are filed. Sen. John Ford (D-Memphis) introduced the bill to give defendants time to prepare for questions from the media, the Associated Press reported. "People who use the court system need to have two to five days before they are attacked by the press," he said. Currently, court records are public.
Jury recommends 1-year sentence for publisher
March 8, 1994
Jury recommends 1-year sentence for publisher 03/08/1994 KENTUCKY -- A jury recommended a one-year sentence in late February for a newspaper publisher convicted of using a car-dealer's tag to avoid paying taxes. The publisher had previously faced a five-year sentence.
Federal appeals court orders release of government official's sick leave records
March 8, 1994
Federal appeals court orders release of government official's sick leave records 03/08/1994 CALIFORNIA -- The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco (9th Cir.) in mid-February ordered the release of sick leave records of a relatively high-ranking government official. Disclosure would not be a "clearly unwarranted" invasion of personal privacy the court said.
American Bar Association approves libel act
March 8, 1994
American Bar Association approves libel act 03/08/1994 MISSOURI -- The American Bar Association's House of Delegates approved the Uniform Correction or Clarification of Defamation Act by a vote of 176-130 in early February.
N.C. experimenting with allowing public access to records by computer
March 8, 1994
N.C. experimenting with allowing public access to records by computer 03/08/1994 NORTH CAROLINA -- Two agencies are providing citizens access to computer records during a nine-month trial period recently begun. After an assessment of how much this new policy costs the state departments of Administration and Transportation, the governor may extend it to all executive agencies.
Judge rules government not liable for release of information about fraud investigation
March 8, 1994
Judge rules government not liable for release of information about fraud investigation 03/08/1994 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The federal government is not liable to the widow of an army colonel for releasing to the news media information from an investigation into several charges against him for travel fraud and other wrongdoing.
Bills would establish new standards for classification of information
March 8, 1994
Bills would establish new standards for classification of information 03/08/1994 WASHINGTON,D.C. -- Legislation that would establish statutory standards for the classification of information was introduced in both houses of Congress in early March.
Blackmun strikes down prior restraint on segment of CBS newscast
February 22, 1994
Blackmun strikes down prior restraint on segment of CBS newscast 02/22/1994 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Just hours before the scheduled broadcast of CBS's "48 Hours," U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun overturned a ban on the televising of a segment featuring videotape secretly shot at a meat processing plant.
Judge orders reporter released after 3 weeks
February 22, 1994
Judge orders reporter released after 3 weeks 02/22/1994 OHIO -- Lisa Abraham, a reporter imprisoned in the Trumbull County Jail for 22 days after refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating an official she had interviewed, was released in mid-February when the grand jury finished its term.
Federal appeals court reinstates libel suit against New York Times over book review
February 22, 1994
Federal appeals court reinstates libel suit against New York Times over book review 02/22/1994 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington (D.C. Cir.) in mid-February reinstated a libel suit brought by an investigative book author following a negative review in the New York Times Book Review.
Board to supervise release of Kennedy records confirmed a year after deadline
February 22, 1994
Board to supervise release of Kennedy records confirmed a year after deadline 02/22/1994 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Senate confirmed in early February the five-member review board that will determine which Kennedy assassination records should be available for public review. The action came more than a year after the January 1993 deadline set in the October 1992 President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act.
Times report indicates North was successful in concealing objections to Walsh report
February 22, 1994
Times report indicates North was successful in concealing objections to Walsh report 02/22/1994 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The New York Times reported in early February that Oliver North, the former Reagan White House aide who directed financial assistance to the Nicaraguan Contras, had successfully concealed his objections to the release of the Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh's full Iran-Contra report, which was made public in mid-January by the U.S. Court of Appeals, (D.C. Cir.).
High court throws out $4.2 million judgment animal trainer won in libel, privacy suit
February 22, 1994
High court throws out $4.2 million judgment animal trainer won in libel, privacy suit 02/22/1994 NEVADA -- The Nevada Supreme Court in Carson City in late January reversed by a 4-0 ruling a $4.2 million judgment won by an animal trainer in a libel and invasion of privacy suit.
State judge overturns conviction of broadcasters who identified juvenile
February 22, 1994
State judge overturns conviction of broadcasters who identified juvenile 02/22/1994 ALABAMA -- A state judge overturned the conviction of two television newscasters in early February who identified a juvenile charged in a shooting.
High court finds violation of meeting law, but rules action taken was not invalid
February 22, 1994
High court finds violation of meeting law, but rules action taken was not invalid 02/22/1994 MONTANA -- A committee to nominate candidates for Commissioner of Political Practices met in violation of the Montana open meeting law, but the violation does not warrant the removal of the commissioner who ultimately was appointed and confirmed by the Senate, the state's high court ruled in mid-February.