| TABLE OF CONTENTS | The News Media & The Law | Vol. 24, No. 3 |
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The News Media & The Law Summer 2000 Caught in the Crossfire: Arrests of Journalists on the Rise |
In this issue:
Incidents of harassment and arrest of reporters are on the rise.
Newsgathering Reporters sometimes find themselves arrested or harassed by police for doing nothing more than covering the news, but they can take steps to prevent arrests and to minimize the damage when they occur.
Journalists around the country were harassed, assaulted, arrested and even jailed while trying to cover the news.
A freelance photojournalist started serving his seven-month jail sentence in June after a trial court judge determined that his confrontation with police deserved harsh punishment because it was the latest in a series of such incidents.
(California v. Erickson)
A federal appeals court in New York (2nd Cir.) ruled that the First Amendment-based journalist's privilege did not shield a reporter from prosecution for conspiring to remove material from the wreckage of TWA Flight 800.
(United States v. Sanders)
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati (6th Cir.) found in July that while a government-operated web site is a nonpublic forum, any regulation of the content must be "viewpoint neutral," and the city's denial of a link to an online newspaper violated this standard.
(The Putnam Pit, Inc. v. City of Cookeville)
Newark police seized a video camera from a news crew as part of a scheme to get closer to a man who was holding his nine-year-old son hostage.
Confidentiality A contempt holding against a reporter who refused to identify his sources was overturned for lack of a compelling interest by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond (4th Cir.) in July.
(Ashcraft v. Conoco and Reiss)
The habeas corpus procedure can be complicated, but it can be the only way to overturn a reporter's jailing for contempt -- and it occasionally works.
When a reporter testifies as a defense witness but then refuses to answer questions on cross-examination by prosecutors, the reporter can be held in contempt -- because of the defendant's fair trial rights, a California appellate court ruled in May.
(Fost v. Superior Court of Marin County)
Separation orders affecting subpoenaed reporters can keep those who know the details of a story from reporting on it, but they can often be opposed and overcome.
The California Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of a reporter ordered to testify in a criminal trial.
(California v. Henderson)
Broadcasting & Copyright A section of the Communications Decency Act requiring cable channels with sexually oriented programming confined to "safe-harbor" hours is unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May.
(U.S. v. Playboy Entertainment Channel)
The 1998 Child Online Protection Act is unconstitutionally vague, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia (3rd. Cir.) held in June.
(ACLU v. Reno)
Camera access to courtrooms continues to generate controversy in courts and legislatures across the country.
A growing trend for cities to involve themselves more directly with the administration of public access channels may threaten the speech allowed on those channels.
Freedom of Information The government's failure to be candid about the raid in Waco, Texas, damaged the public's confidence in government.
(Interim Report to the Deputy Attorney General Concerning the 1993 Standoff at the Mt. Carmel Complex, Waco, Texas)
A mid-June Congressional hearing explored agency compliance with the Electronic Freedom of Information Act.
A picture from the Vince Foster suicide investigation must be released because it has been published before.
(Favish v. Office of Independent Counsel)
A petition to force a federal agency to open its meetings was denied.
(Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Natural Resources Defense Council)
(Davidian v. O’Mara)
(Howard v. Sumter Free Press)
(Associated Press v. Dep’t of Revenue)
Libel & Privacy (Elder v. Gaffney Ledger Inc.)
(Moreno v. Crookston Times Printing Co.)
(Rotkiewicz v. Sadowsky)
(Huckabee v. Time Warner Entertainment Co.)
(Tucker v. MTS Inc.)
(Gannett Co. v. Kanaga)
(Wisconsin v. Stevenson)
Prior Restraints & Secret Courts (Ashcraft v. Conoco and Mitchell)
(United States v. Brown)
(In re Gaylord Broadcasting Co.)
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette v. Zimmerman)
(Sioux Falls Argus Leader v. Miller)
(Hertz v. Times-World Corp.; Mason v. Richmond Newspapers)
Legislative Update