RCFP News Releases
Items: 838 (42 pages)
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PRESS RELEASE U.S. Supreme Court · July 16, 2010 · Privacy
Media groups files brief in military funeral protesters case
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 21 media organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief this week asking the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm a Fourth Circuit ruling that cited the First Amendment in reversing a judgment in favor of a fallen soldier’s father who had sued funeral protesters.
The case, Snyder v. Phelps, began after the Westboro Baptist Church organized a protest at the funeral of U.S. Marine Matthew Snyder, who was killed in the line of duty. The group complied with local regulations, but Albert Snyder field a lawsuit based on the display of signs such as . . . [more]
— Posted at 3:09 pm · View reader comments (3)
PRESS RELEASE U.S. Supreme Court · May 27, 2010 · Freedom of information
Reporters Committee urges justices to reconsider corporate privacy
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press joined a friend-of-the-court brief this week asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that could widely expand the ability of corporations to keep information out of the public eye if it is not overturned.
Nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, the Reporters Committee and four other public interest groups filed the brief to explain why not overruling a decision made by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia (3rd Cir.) in FCC v. AT&T could undermine the intent of the Freedom of Information Act.
AT&T initiated its suit against the Federal Communications Commission seeking to halt the release of agency records . . . [more]
— Posted at 6:09 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE · May 13, 2010 ·
Reporters Committee releases summary of Kagan's media law background
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press released a report on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's background with media law issues, from her time as an associate at a Washington law firm with a well-respected media law practice to her current role as the solicitor general.
The report finds that "Elena Kagan has worked on free-speech and free-press issues more than any recent high court nominee, but her writings tend to explore the underpinnings of current doctrines and standards, rather than argue for or against any particular approach. She has also expressed skepticism with how workable the 'actual malice' libel standard and a reporter’s privilege are, and whether those standards need to be reworked."
All of her non-academic experience was on . . . [more]
— Posted at 6:23 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE · May 12, 2010 ·
Reporters Committee to celebrate 40th Anniversary with gala dinner
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press will celebrate its 40th Anniversary with a gala dinner and silent auction in New York on May 25, 2010.
60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft will host the event, which will include the presentation of First Amendment Awards to Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl and noted media lawyer Kurt Wimmer of Covington & Burling LLP.
Wall Street Journal Publisher Les Hinton has served as chairman of the event, which thus far has raised more than a half million dollars. Distinguished attendees at the dinner will include Reporters Committee co-founders Ben Bradlee, vice president at-large at the Washington Post, and Fred Graham of InSession. Bradlee will . . . [more]
— Posted at 3:04 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE Washington, D.C. · May 7, 2010 · Secret courts
Reporters Committee objects to Pentagon treatment of reporters
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is seeking a meeting with Department of Defense officials to discuss the expulsion of four experienced reporters who have been banned from reporting on military commission proceedings at Guantanamo Bay.
Reporters Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald, Michelle Shephard of the Toronto Star, Paul Koring of The Globe and Mail, and Steven Edwards of Canwest News Service were kicked out of the proceedings because they published the name of a previously publicly identified U.S. army interrogator who is a witness in an ongoing proceeding.
The Pentagon sent a letter on Thursday to the four news organizations that employ the reporters, declaring that the individual journalists may no longer cover . . . [more]
— Posted at 1:12 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE · April 27, 2010 ·
News media organizations call for open hearings over W.Va. mining tragedy
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and eight news organizations today sent a letter urging the Mine Safety and Health Administration to conduct public hearings as it investigates the nation’s worst mining disaster in 25 years.
The MSHA had previously announced its plans to interview miners in the presence of attorneys for the Labor Department, the State of West Virginia and Massey Energy, while excluding the public and the news media.
The Reporters Committee, joined by The Associated Press, the Radio Television Digital News Association, the American Society of News Editors, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the Charleston (W.V) Gazette, the Society of . . . [more]
— Posted at 5:53 pm · View reader comments (1)
PRESS RELEASE Virginia · April 22, 2010 · Newsgathering
Reporters Committee protests raid on student newsroom
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press on Tuesday sent a letter condemning a county prosecutor's decision to confiscate the computer files of James Madison University's student newspaper.
“By raiding The Breeze’s newsroom and copying files from its computers, you have by extension infringed upon every Virginian’s right to receive information from an independent and free press,” Reporters Committee Executive Director Lucy A. Dalglish wrote to Rockingham County Commonwealth's Attorney Marsha Garst.
Attorneys representing the paper and the prosecutors office are still . . . [more]
— Posted at 4:34 pm · View reader comments (1)
PRESS RELEASE · March 11, 2010 ·
Reporters Committee names new Freedom of Information director
Mark R. Caramanica has been named Freedom of Information Director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Executive Director Lucy A. Dalglish announced today.
Caramanica is a former New York trial lawyer who is finishing his doctorate in Mass Communications at the University of Florida.
"We're delighted that Mark will be joining us in late April," said Executive Director Lucy A. Dalglish. "His experience as a lawyer, journalist and non-profit manager will prove invaluable to the hundreds of reporters who call for help each year with questions about access to government meetings and records."
Caramanica has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Florida. He later earned a law degree and a master's degree in . . . [more]
— Posted at 12:42 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE U.S. Supreme Court · November 25, 2009 · Newsgathering
Media groups urge review of death row interview ban
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press today filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review federal rules that prohibit in-person interviews with death row inmates and ban the inmates from telling the press about the treatment, conditions, or actions of any other inmates.
The rules at issue in the case, Hammer v. Ashcroft, were created after Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh appeared on the television news program 60 Minutes. John Ashcroft, attorney general at the time, declared that the purpose of the ban was to suppress the viewpoints of McVeigh and other death row . . . [more]
— Posted at 12:20 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE · October 21, 2009 ·
Reporters Committee mourns the loss of co-founder Jack Nelson
Jack Nelson, retired Washington Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times and a co-founder in 1970 of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, died early this morning of pancreatic cancer. He celebrated his 80th birthday on Oct. 11.
Nelson was one of 30 Washington and New York journalists who met in March 1970 at Georgetown University’s law library out of concern about a federal grand jury subpoena served on New York Times reporter Earl Caldwell. After the three-hour meeting, Nelson and two New York Times reporters, Fred Graham and the late J. Anthony Lukas, went to the New York Times’ Washington Bureau, where they coined the organization’s name. Lukas wrote a press release expressing the group’s concern over subpoenas . . . [more]
— Posted at 10:50 am · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE · September 30, 2009 ·
Reminder: "Barbecue with a View" benefit
Don't miss the annual "Barbecue with a View" on Sunday, October 11, 2009. Reserve your space now!
This year's benefit is hosted by the law firm of VInson & Elkins LLP. Tickets are $75 and all proceeds benefit the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
See you there!
— Posted at 6:29 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE U.S. Supreme Court · September 8, 2009 · Freedom of information
FOIA does not shield images of detainee abuse, RCFP argues
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press asked the U.S. Supreme Court Friday to decline review of an appeals court decision that found the Freedom of Information Act requires release of images of alleged abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan carried out by U.S. troops.
In urging the court to allow the lower court rulings to stand, the friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Reporters Committee and 16 other news media organizations argued that FOIA was properly interpreted below and that the Supreme Court need not hear the case because the law is clear and settled.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as well as the . . . [more]
— Posted at 10:25 am · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE 5th Cir. · September 3, 2009 · Freedom of information
Reporters Committee urges upholding open meetings law
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press today urged the entire 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the constitutionality of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
In a first-of-its-kind decision earlier this year, a three-judge panel of that court found that because the law restricted certain elected officials from communicating about public business in secret, it violated their First Amendment rights. The Reporters Committee's friend-of-the-court brief, joined by 23 other news media organizations, pointed out to the court that open meetings laws like the one in Texas are actually further the First Amendment rights of citizens by assuirng they have access to and . . . [more]
— Posted at 5:39 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE Florida · August 13, 2009 · Freedom of information
Reporters Committee asks court to award attorney's fees
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a friend-of-the-court brief today in a Florida open records dispute urging the award of attorney's fees in a case where government officials had clearly flouted open government laws.
The brief was filed in support of a citizen activist and non-profit group, Citizens for Sunshine, whose lawsuit brought to light violations of Florida’s open records and open meetings laws by the City of Venice. Venice settled the case after admitting it had violated the open government laws, in part by failing to maintain and archive e-mail accounts for elected city . . . [more]
— Hannah Bergman, 5:19 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE Georgia · August 13, 2009 · Secret courts
Reporters Committee asks high court to keep jury selection public
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a friend-of-the-court brief today urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision that allows Georgia judges to bar the public from courtrooms during jury selection.
The judge overseeing Eric Presley’s drug trial ordered the public to leave the entire courthouse floor where jury selection (called voir dire) was taking place. The judge reportedly often conducted jury selection in secret, concerned that members of the public would speak to prospective jurors and unaware that the First and Sixth Amendments each create a presumption of public access to jury . . . [more]
— Rory Eastburg, 4:32 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE · July 24, 2009 ·
Reporters Committee urges Wisconsin to adopt shield bill
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press urged passage of a proposed reporter’s shield law in comments filed this week with Wisconsin Legislature’s Committee on Judiciary and Ethics.
Assembly Bill 333 would provide an absolute privilege for confidential sources and information and a qualified privilege for all other information.
"The Wisconsin Legislature should be applauded for considering an absolute privilege for confidential sources," said Reporters Committee Executive Director Lucy A. Dalglish.
"The law would provide much of the protection needed for journalists to carry out their essential role of informing the people of . . . [more]
— Posted at 4:27 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE U.S. Supreme Court · July 24, 2009 · Prior restraints
Press groups urge protection of animal cruelty coverage
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press today filed a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a federal statute that criminalizes the possession, creation or sale of a wide variety of depictions involving animals. The Reporters Committee filed the brief on behalf of itself and 13 media organizations.
The case, U.S. v. Stevens, involves a statute which makes it a felony to create, sell or possess “a depiction of animal cruelty with the intention of placing that depiction in interstate or foreign commerce for commercial gain.” Congress passed the law in order to prohibit “crush videos," a type of fetish pornography involving the death of . . . [more]
— Rory Eastburg, 3:49 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE New Hampshire · June 22, 2009 · Reporter's privilege
Reporters Committee asks court to apply reporter's privilege to Web site
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is urging the New Hampshire Supreme Court to protect the identity of a confidential source used by an online news Web site that covers the mortgage industry.
In a friend-of-the-court brief filed jointly by the Reporters Committee and the Citizen Media Law Project in The Mortgage Specialists v. Implode Explode Heavy Industries, the organizations argued that news Web site Implode-O-Meter, which aggregates news coverage of the mortgage industry, should have the same First Amendment protections as traditional media.
"There's no question that Implode-O-Meter was doing journalism when it published the . . . [more]
— Posted at 5:23 pm · View reader comments (3)
PRESS RELEASE 2nd Cir. · June 1, 2009 · Freedom of information
Prisoner abuse images should come out, RCFP argues
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press today asked a federal court to affirm its commitment to the release of images depicting detainee abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison despite the government's persistence in avoiding the court-ordered release.
Last week, the government asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for what is essentially a "time-out" in the court's order to release the images while it pursues other avenues to keep the images from being released to the American Civil Liberties Union and the . . . [more]
— Posted at 2:53 pm · Comments: 0
PRESS RELEASE U.S. Supreme Court · May 27, 2009 ·
Reporters Committee releases summary of Sotomayor decisions
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has released a report summarizing the First Amendment and freedom of information opinions of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
The report notes that while Sotomayor has an abundance of judicial experience, "it is surprising to see that no clear standard on First Amendment issues has emerged from her many cases." However, this is primarily due to the small number of such cases that she has heard. When confronted with the question of public and press access to the judicial system, she has favored the right of access. But her Freedom of Information Act cases tend to favor withholding records from . . . [more]
— Posted at 7:51 pm · Comments: 0
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