Reporters Committee demands Justice end policy limiting taping and quoting of attorneys

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press sent a letter to Department of Justice officials today urging them to immediately abandon an apparent internal policy of ordering journalists not to record or quote its attorneys’ statements at public meetings.

An agency attorney issued such an instruction during a June 12 public meeting in New Iberia, La., City Hall held to discuss the city fire department’s hiring and promotion process. When a Daily Iberian reporter in attendance challenged the directive, the attorney claimed she was following agency policy and demanded that he leave.

"If there is a Justice Department policy banning news reporting at public meetings, it conflicts with the mandates of the state open meetings law — which specifically provides for recording of public meetings — and raises serious First Amendment implications," Reporters Committee Executive Director Lucy A. Dalglish said.

In addition to asking that the agency affirmatively reject this policy, the letter requested clarification of its origins and legal basis, as well as copies of any related agency documents.