Prior restraint

A tribal appellate court in Michigan last month vacated a broad injunction that prohibited a Native American journalist from reporting on issues related to tribal membership.

One important issue in the high-profile campaign speech case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was resolved today during a special session of the U.S. Supreme Court when Solicitor General Elena Kagan retracted the government’s claim that the First Amendment allows it to ban books produced with corporate or union money. It was the second time the case has been argued before the court.

A Florida judge Friday reversed a ruling, issued just a day before, which prohibited the press from covering a high-profile middle school sex abuse case, according to the Tampa Tribune.

A Florida judge issued an emergency order Thursday prohibiting the press from reporting on a high-profile trial of middle school students accused of sexually assaulting a classmate in a  locker room.

A federal judge in New York has set a hearing next week to consider a defense attorney's request that Newsday and a local television station be barred from publishing photos taken of his client while he was under arrest, the paper reports.

A federal judge in Denver has denied without public comment a request for a broad restraining order aimed at The Pueblo Chieftain and reporter Robert Boczkiewicz. The order would have prohibited any news organization from publishing information obtained from a court hearing in a lawsuit related to the alleged sexual abuse of high school students.

A tribal court in Michigan has issued an injunction ordering a journalist not to report on issues related to “blood quantum” and qualifications for tribal enrollment.  

A Kentucky Appeals Court judge said yesterday that the judge overseeing a high-profile murder case acted properly when she allowed news cameras into the courtroom only so long as the media agreed to restrictions on how the footage could be used.  

State Appeals Court Judge Michelle Keller denied a request from several media organizations for an emergency stay of the trial court’s restrictions. While the emergency motion was decided by Keller acting alone, a three-judge appellate court panel will revisit the underlying challenge to the restrictions.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in New York (2nd Cir.) this week struck down a portion of the Patriot Act that placed a gag order on recipients of "national security letters."

A California judge has backed off a gag order barring The Ventura County Star from publishing documents it accidentally received from a clerk, saying his order was wrong and unenforceable.