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.
A Kentucky judge earlier this week granted a local newspaper’s request to unseal records in a juvenile sexual abuse case that sparked widespread support for the victim after she publicly identified her alleged attackers.
Jefferson District Court Chief Judge Angela McCormick Bisig also ruled that all proceedings held in the case will be open to the public and allowed the news media to photograph in the courtroom.
In the backdrop of mounting media attention, the attorneys for two boys withdrew their motion on Monday to charge a 17-year-old Kentucky teenager for contempt after she potentially violated a court order by identifying them on Twitter as her attackers in a juvenile sexual assault case.
“There you go, lock me up,” Savannah Dietrich tweeted when she named the teens who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her. “I’m not protecting anyone that made my life a living Hell.”
Two Kentucky newspapers earned a victory in a lengthy legal battle with child welfare officials this week when a state appellate court ruled that records relating to child abuse cases that resulted in death or near-fatal injuries must continue to be publicly disclosed.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has put together a guide on some of the legal issues that journalists covering the Ohio school shooting may encounter. The guide is available on the Reporters Committee web site, and covers primarily freedom-of-information and court-access issues.
A court proceeding to determine whether an 11-year-old Pennsylvania boy killed his father’s pregnant fiancée and her unborn son will remain closed to the public, a state appellate court ruled last week.
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a juvenile court order that the delinquency proceeding of Jordan Brown, now 13, should remain closed because the government's interest in protecting the privacy of juveniles outweighs the public's right of access to the proceeding.
The Massachusetts Legislature is considering a bill that would impose criminal charges against members of the media and others who, in connection with any criminal proceeding, disclose documents that divulge information about a child involved in the proceeding, regardless of the source of such documents or information. The bill requires all documents that include such information to be filed under seal, without court order, with a redacted version made publicly available.
Reporters Committee urges Mass. legislators to stop action on bill restricting news media
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has filed written testimony in conjunction with a hearing by the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary on a bill that would criminalize news media who identify children involved in criminal proceedings, no matter the source. The Reporters Committee, joined by several New England media groups, argues that while “well intentioned” the bill amounts to an unconstitutional prior restraint on news reporting.
Los Angeles County Juvenile Court proceedings will be open to regular media coverage, but not to the public, unless a compelling case is made to close it, the court’s presiding judge ruled this week.
Prior to the ruling by Judge Michael Nash, the dependency side of the court, which focuses on cases of child abuse, foster care and adoption proceedings, had been largely closed to news organizations.
A Tennessee judge earlier this week granted a media coalition’s request to unseal court documents and proceedings in a case that prompted heightened scrutiny of international adoptions.
Torry Hansen failed to convince the court that a lawsuit seeking child support from her on behalf of the 9-year-old boy she adopted but then abruptly returned to his native Russia should be shielded entirely from public view. Some records related to the child’s adoption history will remain sealed to protect his privacy, however.
Facing legal pressure from the media, a child-welfare agency in southern Florida on Monday released multiple documents related to a case involving the death of a 10-year-old adopted girl.
Comments to Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary re. Senate Bill 785
The Massachusetts Legislature is considering a bill that would impose criminal charges against members of the media and others who, in connection with any criminal proceeding, disclose documents that divulge information about a child involved in the proceeding, regardless of the source of such documents or information. The bill requires all documents that include such information to be filed under seal, without court order, with a redacted version made publicly available.