Georgia

GEORGIA--A state trial judge in Atlanta ordered two Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporters to jail in early June for refusing to identify the confidential source who informed them that security guard Richard Jewell was the leading suspect in the 1996 bombing at the summer Olympic games in Atlanta.

GEORGIA--In mid May, the Georgia Supreme Court in Atlanta ruled 6-1 that a Sylvania ordinance prohibiting distribution of free printed material to yards, driveways or porches violates freedom of speech and press under the U.S. and Georgia Constitutions.

GEORGIA--In early March, the state Supreme Court in Atlanta decided 4-3 that a confidential agreement in a civil case between the Savannah College of Art and Design and the School of Visual Arts can remain sealed to protect the college's privacy interest.

GEORGIA--The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in mid-March was once again ordered by state Judge John Mather in Atlanta to reveal the identities of confidential sources who supplied reporters information about former Centennial Olympic Park bombing suspect Richard Jewell. The judge ruled that the state shield law does not apply to journalists who are libel defendants.

GEORGIA--A Savannah Morning News reporter does not have to comply with a trial court's order demanding testimony about a jailhouse interview with a murder suspect that allegedly included a confession, the state Supreme Court in Atlanta held in early March.

GEORGIA--A law prohibiting all off-site outdoor advertising by businesses offering adult entertainment violates the establishments' free speech rights, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled in early November.

A state court judge in Atlanta decided in early August not to hold The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in contempt of court for refusing to disclose confidential sources related to stories about Richard Jewell, at least until an appeal of the order can be heard.

GEORGIA--The public owns Dr. Martin L. King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech, not his estate, a federal District Court in Atlanta ruled in late July.

GEORGIA--The Georgia Supreme Court in Atlanta ruled in early July that an Albany TV station may install video equipment in a courtroom for one murder trial but agreed that video cameras were correctly excluded from an earlier related trial because the publicity from the first might have adversely influenced the second.

GEORGIA--A state court in Atlanta in late April ordered a newspaper to reveal the identities of its confidential sources to Richard Jewell, who is suing the newspaper for libel.

Judge John Mather ordered The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to comply with a discovery request from Jewell, the security guard who was initially identified as a suspect in the Centennial Olympic Park bombing.