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.
Reporters Committee lauds federal court's ruling that secret Del. court arbitration is unconstitutional
A federal judge in Delaware stood up for the right to be informed about important disputes that may affect public health and safety Thursday when she declared unconstitutional state court rules that allow blanket confidentiality in private arbitration proceedings and records.
A Pennsylvania judge denied a request by two Pittsburgh-area newspapers to make public documents relating to a settlement between several gas drilling corporations and a local family, stating that the newspapers failed to petition before the documents were sealed.
The Delaware Coalition for Open Government brought a lawsuit in federal court against the Delaware Chancery Court, its judges and the state challenging as facially unconstitutional Chancery Court rules that allow blanket confidentiality in private arbitration proceedings and records, including court-supervised settlement agreements.
A federal judge in Pennsylvania directed Lexis and Westlaw to remove eight opinions from their database as part of a confidential settlement, The Legal Intelligencerreports. Related court documents were also sealed, though one of the defendants, Amtrak, is owned by the federal government.
In a ruling due to be formally published this week, the Connecticut Supreme Court has found that documents filed in more than two dozen civil lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport should be unsealed.
A Phoenix TV station didn’t waive its right under the state shield law and doesn’t have to reveal the source of sealed documents it used for a story on a tire safety lawsuit, according to an opinion released Tuesday by the Arizona Court of Appeals.
A divided three-judge panel rejected Cooper Tire and Rubber Co.’s argument that KNVX-TV waived its reporter’s privilege by asking a lower court for a declaratory judgment and by describing the source as a whistleblower.
Documents related to a secret settlement agreement between Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and former city police officers were released this morning after the city's last ditch effort to maintain the documents' secrecy was rejected by the Michigan Supreme Court.
In a friend-of-the-court brief to the North Dakota Supreme Court, the Reporters Committee this week urged the court to issue a directive requiring lower courts in the state to follow specific procedures set forth in the law before sealing records.
North Dakota’s Board of Higher Education reached a settlement Oct. 26 with the NCAA that gives the University of North Dakota three years to persuade Sioux tribes to support the school's Fighting Sioux nickname.
In September, the judge sealed future court filings in the case to facilitate settlement talks between the parties.
Delaware Coalition for Open Government, Inc. v. The Delaware Court of Chancery et al.
The Delaware Coalition for Open Government brought a lawsuit in federal court against the Delaware Chancery Court, its judges and the state challenging as facially unconstitutional Chancery Court rules that allow blanket confidentiality in private arbitration proceedings and records, including court-supervised settlement agreements.