Alabama

ALABAMA--In late December, 1996, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta (11th Cir.) held that limiting the number of people an inmate in a high security prison can call does not violate the First Amendment.

ALABAMA--A circuit court judge in Bessemer has issued a blanket order barring the public from attending certain proceedings in his courtroom and prohibiting them from calling his staff with inquiries about the status of cases pending before him, prompting two newspapers to publish editorials in late August asking the state Judicial Inquiry Commission to review the order if the judge declines to rescind it.

WASHINGTON, D.C.--The U.S. Supreme Court set federal constitutional limits on state punitive damages awards in a 5-4 decision announced in late May. The Court held that the due process clause of the 14th Amendment prohibits a state from imposing "grossly excessive" punishment in relation to the state's legitimate interests in punishing unlawful conduct and deterring its repetition.

Dismissal upheld in privacy suit over report on runaway and her puppy

ALABAMA--A television station's news report about a 15-year-old runaway whose puppy had been stolen and tortured did not constitute an invasion of privacy, the Supreme Court in Montgomery unanimously held in mid-January.

The court, upholding the decision of a Mobile trial court judge, found that news reports on WALA-TV about Shauna Cooley and her puppy, Gucci, were of legitimate public interest and therefore did not violate Cooley's right of privacy.

Judge bars media from reporting complaint about law firm

ALABAMA--A state trial judge in Birmingham in late June ordered newspapers and broadcast stations not to print or air any information regarding an ethics complaint against an Alabama law firm. The next day, before media organizations had a chance to challenge the order, Judge William Wynn dissolved his ban.

University must release NCAA charges before hearing

ALABAMA--The University of Alabama must release 12 pages of enclosures from a National Collegiate Athletic Association letter alleging NCAA violations involving former university football players Gene Jelks and Antonio Langham, according to a mid-May decision by the Circuit Court in Tuscaloosa. The enclosures specify the details of the violations.

Reporter freed after serving time for contempt conviction

ALABAMA--A reporter convicted of contempt of court for leaving a courtroom against a judge's orders was released in late April from the Morgan County Jail in Decatur after serving a three-day sentence.

ALABAMA -- Decatur Daily staff reporter Seth Blomely faces three days in jail and a fine of $100 for leaving a Decatur courtroom after Morgan County Circuit Judge Bennett McRae asked spectators in the court to keep their seats.

ALABAMA -- The Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers Coalition, supporting state business interests, has for the moment kept the Alabama sturgeon off the endangered species list. An appeals court in Atlanta said that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cannot rely on a report of an illegally closed advisory committee to protect the fish.

ALABAMA -- A state judge overturned the conviction of two television newscasters in early February who identified a juvenile charged in a shooting.