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.
The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that requiring elected officials to recuse themselves from governance votes on issues where they have a conflict of interest does not violate First Amendment free speech rights, endorsing a position put forth in a friend-of-the-court brief by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press lauded today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in another decision favorable to open government, this time ruling that the Navy’s use of a Freedom of Information Act exemption for records regarding internal agency personnel rules and practices was improperly invoked to deny the release of maps and charts.
Noting that even the most repugnant speech must be afforded the same protection as any other statement, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press was pleased by today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a church’s First Amendment right to protest near military funerals.
It was a lesson in vocabulary during oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court held Wednesday morning, as the high court wrestled over the meaning of the word "personal." The case, FCC v. AT&T, concerned a federal Freedom of Information Act request for documents regarding a Federal Communications Commission investigation into AT&T's participation in a federal telecommunications build-out program. AT&T self-reported that it may have overcharged the government for its services.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will hear a case regarding the scope of the privacy protections afforded under Exemption 7(c) of the federal Freedom of Information Act. The case involves a records dispute between the Federal Communications Commission and AT&T.
The U.S. Supreme Court's denial on Wednesday of broadcasters' requests to gain access to audio tapes in a case over a religious controversy means that this will be the first full term in four years that the court has not released expedited audio of arguments in at least one high-profile case, The Associated Press reported.
The Supreme Court on Monday said a lawsuit filed against Hustler magazine by the family of a deceased professional wrestler can proceed and that it will not hear the magazine's appeal.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Society for Professional Journalists have filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Hustler magazine asking the Supreme Court to clarify that right-of-publicity claims should not apply to newsworthy photographs.
Hustler has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal of a federal court ruling that said the magazine used the image of a murdered professional wrestler for commercial -- not news -- purposes that violated her family's right-of-publicity interests.
