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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
Judge acquits former student president in prosecution for theft of newspapers
January 25, 1994
Judge acquits former student president in prosecution for theft of newspapers 01/25/1994 LOUISIANA -- A judge in mid-January acquitted a former student government president accused of criminal mischief for asking fraternity brothers to get rid of an edition of the Southeastern Louisiana University school newspaper, the Associated Press reported.
Networks endorse 'violence monitor,' apparently dodging federal regulation
January 25, 1994
Networks endorse 'violence monitor,' apparently dodging federal regulation 01/25/1994 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Washington Post reported in late January that the four broadcast networks and major cable networks have endorsed plans for outside independent monitoring of media violence.
Arizona court allows secrecy for some judicial information
January 25, 1994
Arizona court allows secrecy for some judicial information 01/25/1994 ARIZONA -- Despite a statute that mandates the release of judicial information to the public, Arizona courts may withhold information if its release might interfere with a criminal investigation, the Court of Appeals in Phoenix ruled in late December.
Virginia high court lets ruling stand barring board from excluding reporter from meeting
January 25, 1994
Virginia high court lets ruling stand barring board from excluding reporter from meeting 01/25/1994 VIRGINIA -- In early January, the state Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that the Shenandoah County Board of Supervisors violated the state open meetings law by excluding a reporter from a two-member budget and finance committee conference.
Court refuses to open records of conversation between diplomat and Saddam Hussein
January 11, 1994
Court refuses to open records of conversation between diplomat and Saddam Hussein 01/11/1994 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Records of the long- disputed conversation in 1990 between former U.S. ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, a dialogue that occurred one week before Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, will remain classified even though Glaspie gave her version of the contents of the records in public testimony before congressional committees at the end of the Persian Gulf War.
Prompted by bad wedding pictures, bill would regulate photographers
January 11, 1994
Prompted by bad wedding pictures, bill would regulate photographers 01/11/1994 PENNSYLVANIA -- Photojournalists could be subject to strict licensing procedures under a bill introduced in December in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives that would regulate professional photographers.
Photographers covering princess's visit to museum corralled; public wanders freely
January 11, 1994
Photographers covering princess's visit to museum corralled; public wanders freely 01/11/1994 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- During a visit to the National Gallery of Art in late December by Princess Diana, news photographers were kept behind a barricade while the public, some with cameras, strolled through the gallery with the princess.
Appeals court backs order requiring release of Iran-contra counsel's report
January 11, 1994
Appeals court backs order requiring release of Iran-contra counsel's report 01/11/1994 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington (D.C. Cir.) in early January rejected motions to reconsider its December order allowing the public release of the final report of Lawrence Walsh, the independent counsel who investigated the Iran-contra scandal.
Pa. rules panel's secret meeting did not violate Sunshine Act, court holds
January 11, 1994
Pa. rules panel's secret meeting did not violate Sunshine Act, court holds 01/11/94 PENNSYLVANIA -- The state House Rules Committee did not violate the Sunshine Act by voting in a private, unannounced session to increase daily expense allowances for House members, the Commonwealth Court ruled in late December.
Closed city council committee meeting was illegal, Missouri judge rules
January 11, 1994
Closed city council committee meeting was illegal, Missouri judge rules 01/11/1994 MISSOURI -- A meeting of the executive police committee of the Louisiana, Mo., City Council to hear citizen complaints, primarily from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was closed illegally, the Circuit Court in Pike County Missouri ruled in early December.
State upholds release of sick leave records in first case to consider 'personal privacy'
January 11, 1994
State upholds release of sick leave records in first case to consider 'personal privacy' 01/11/1994 CONNECTICUT -- The state Supreme Court ruled in late December that disclosure of a school psychologist's sick leave records was appropriate under the state Freedom of Information Act. The decision is the court's first to comprehensively define the statutory exception for invasion of personal privacy.
State court upholds release of arrest records
January 11, 1994
State court upholds release of arrest records 01/11/1994 OKLAHOMA -- The state Supreme Court ruled in late December that the city properly released its records of a legislative nominee's arrest on charges of drunken driving under the Oklahoma Open Records Act even though the town's municipal court had expunged court records of the nominee's guilty plea.
Appeals court clears way for trial against utility blamed for reporter's firing
January 11, 1994
Appeals court clears way for trial against utility blamed for reporter's firing 01/11/1994 CALIFORNIA -- A state appeals court in San Francisco ruled in late December that reporter J.A. Savage can proceed to trial against a utility company that caused her to lose her job because the company refused to cooperate with her, the Associated Press reported.
Commissioner doubts complaints about Stern sufficient to block purchase of stations
January 11, 1994
Commissioner doubts complaints about Stern sufficient to block purchase of stations 01/11/1994 WASHINGTON -- While the Federal Communications Commission has delayed the planned purchase of three radio stations by Infinity Broadcasting Corp. because of indecency complaints, an outright denial of the station acquisitions seems unlikely, a commissioner has said.
State court holds that libel defendant cannot rely on agency to prove statements' truth
January 11, 1994
State court holds that libel defendant cannot rely on agency to prove statements' truth 01/11/1994 OREGON -- The Oregon Supreme Court in Salem rejected in late December a summary judgment motion made by the defendant in a libel suit brought by a dealer in animals for medical research. The court ruled that a federal agency that investigated the dealer had not already established the truth of the defendant's statements.