Prior Restraints

The Supreme Court of Ohio has prohibited the enforcement of a gag order banning the news media from reporting on a criminal trial until a jury has been seated in the second trial of another defendant charged in the same incident.

An Ohio judge told the state Supreme Court on Monday that his decision in January to temporarily ban media coverage on a manslaughter trial was made to ensure that an unbiased jury was seated for the second defendant in the case, The Toledo Blade reported.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it would not hear the appeal of a death row inmate who argued that a federal policy banning in-person interviews violated his constitutional rights.

The attorney for the Army psychiatrist implicated in a shooting at a Texas military base has responded to a military gag order by starting a blog on the case, CNN reported.

The Supreme Court seemed sympathetic on Monday to the argument that former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling did not receive a fair trial in Houston following the energy company's bankruptcy and subsequent collapse.

The Ohio Supreme Court has temporarily lifted a judge's order that would have barred journalists from reporting on a public trial that begins next week. The stay, issued after the Toledo Blade petitioned the high court, will remain in effect until the appeal is fully briefed and argued, which according to the court's schedule could take 50 days.

The Toledo Blade has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn a judge's order barring journalists from reporting on a public trial.

When the Supreme Court turned campaign-finance law on its head today with its decision in Citizens United v. F.E.C., the justices said they were partially influenced by the example of media companies that publish news and commentary about elections, even though they are exempt from the provisions at stake in the case.

An Ohio judge has ordered the news media not to report on a criminal trial involving the death of a toddler, even though it is open to the public, The [Toledo] Blade reported.

A California state Senate committee passed the latest incarnation of a bill today that would extend existing free-speech laws to charter schools. The bill will likely go to the full floor for a vote as early as next week.