AAN News
State Attorneys General Push Senate on Federal Shield Lawnew
A bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general urged Senate leadership to quickly pass the measure in a letter (PDF file) that they will deliver July 8 when the Senate returns from its Summer recess, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. (Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wrote separately to endorse the bill.) The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the bill, and the House has already passed the companion bill. Broadcasting & Cable notes that the prospects for a shield law's passage "look brighter" than in the past, due to bipartisan Congressional support and the fact that both presumptive presidential nominees are co-sponsors of the Senate bill.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press | Broadcasting & Cable |
06-26-2008 8:46 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Former Alt-Weekly Film Critic Sentenced to Nine Months in Sex Casenew
The Stamford Advocate |
06-26-2008 1:06 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Hartford Advocate
Chicago Reader Dropped as Defendant in Defamation Suitnew
The paper had been named as a party to a defamation suit by former assistant commissioner for the Chicago Department of Aviation James Sachay, which alleged that political activist Frank Coconate had written a comment on one of the Reader's blogs and attributed it to Sachay. The Reader "argued in its motion to dismiss that it enjoys immunity under Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which draws a distinction between a publisher that selects what to publish and the proprietor of a public web forum," Michael Miner writes. "This distinction holds even if the website provider makes some effort to police the site. (Someone here took down the offending comment sometime after it appeared.)" Last week the paper was dismissed as a defendant in response to a new motion filed by Sachay. His amended suit against only Coconate will continue.
Chicago Reader |
06-10-2008 9:41 am |
Legal News
Judge Says The Stranger Columnist Can Testify in Basketball Trialnew
A federal judge says the author and "Sonics Death Watch" columnist Sherman Alexie can testify for the city of Seattle in its trial next week against the Seattle SuperSonics, the Seattle Times reports. The team's ownership group wants to pay off the final two years of its lease at Seattle's arena and move the team to Oklahoma City for next season, while the city of Seattle is suing in federal court to force the team to fulfill the lease. The city's lawyers wanted to call Alexie because he's a season-ticket holder, a big fan and could discuss the team's importance in Seattle. Attorneys for the Sonics claimed he had nothing relevant to say, and had asked to get him off the witness list.
The Seattle Times |
06-10-2008 9:23 am |
Legal News
Tags: The Stranger
New Haven Tables News Box Legislationnew
"A City Hall proposal to group news boxes together in new kiosks ran into a barrage of criticism from media representatives and elected officials Monday night at the Board of Aldermen's Legislation Committee, which tabled the proposal," the New Haven Independent reports. New Haven Advocate publisher Josh Mamis spoke at the meeting, telling the committee that the proposal's prioritization of daily papers over weeklies is a restriction of freedom of speech, according to the Independent. He also complained about the way the city handled the issue, claiming that he wasn't even aware of news rack problems in New Haven. "I've never fielded a complaint," he told the committee. "If there are problems I'd love to hear about them." The ordinance will reportedly be revisited after more input from local media is obtained.
New Haven Independent |
05-14-2008 3:24 pm |
Legal News
Santa Barbara Independent Settles Lawsuit With Daily Papernew
The Independent and the parent company of the Santa Barbara News-Press have settled a federal copyright infringement lawsuit, the Indy reports. The suit was brought against the alt-weekly in 2006 after a reporter for the News-Press wrote an article describing what occurred in the paper's newsroom the day a handful of top editors resigned. The story never made the paper; instead, the Independent got a hold of a draft and posted it on its website, which the News-Press claimed violated federal copyright law. Local media law blogger Craig Smith says that even though they won't admit it, the settlement is "a victory for the Independent."
Santa Barbara Independent |
05-07-2008 9:57 am |
Legal News
Seven Days Examines Fair Housing Lawsnew
The Burlington, Vt., alt-weekly explores the world of complex and often contradictory fair housing laws through its own story: The paper has been accused of violating fair housing laws several times, and was fined $45,000 for doing so on one occasion. "'Single occupancy only,' 'Not Section 8 approved' -- these are terms we thought described physical attributes of the property, as in occupancy limits for fire code," notes publisher Paula Routly. "In fact, the pamphlet we were given for reference said that language was OK. Turns out it was designed for landlords, not publishers." The paper also notes the different legal standards for websites like Craigslist and print publications, which has put an even larger burden on alt-weeklies, already facing stiff competition from web-based classifieds. "Even when their users violate state and federal fair-housing laws, the websites themselves are held faultless," Seven Days reports.
Seven Days |
05-01-2008 8:59 am |
Legal News
Circuit Court Affirms Immunity for Pure Third-Party Web Contentnew
Earlier this month, in Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed prior rulings that interpreted the Communications Decency Act as broadly immunizing website owners from liability based on content posted by third parties. However, the court introduced a new test to determine if a website is outside the scope of Section 230 immunity, according to Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. "Under the 9th Circuit's test, if a website 'materially contributes' to the allegedly illegal content, as opposed to providing 'neutral' tools for communicating information, it may forfeit its immunity," the law firm says. Applying this test, the court found that Roommates.com was in part a content provider, so it was not immune from claims under the federal Fair Housing Act and similar state laws that prohibit discriminatory housing practices. AAN joined an amicus brief in support of Roommates.com's position in the case. Here is the L.A. Times' report on the case.
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP |
04-17-2008 1:38 pm |
Legal News
Chicago Reader Named in Defamation Suitnew
Former assistant commissioner for the Chicago Department of Aviation James Sachay has filed suit against the Reader and political activist Frank Coconate for defamation after a comment on the paper's "Clout City" blog was attributed to him, CBS-2 Chicago reports. According to the suit, Coconate wrote the incriminating comment, dated January 31 at 7:37 a.m., and attributed it to Sachay. Despite the Reader having a comments policy that states, in part, "please note that commenters are free to use whatever name(s) they choose," the suit claims the paper was negligent for not screening the blog. The four-count suit asks for more than $800,000 from Coconate and the Reader.
CBS-2 Chicago |
04-11-2008 12:25 pm |
Legal News
Bush Administration Mounts Campaign Against Federal Shield Lawnew
Four top Bush administration officials are weighing in against The Free Flow of Information Act, which would allow reporters to protect the identities of confidential sources, the Associated Press reports. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff all expressed concerns about the bill via letters to senators which were made public this week. The bill was passed by the House and the Senate Judiciary Committee last October, but has since languished, waiting to be called to the Senate floor for a vote.
The Associated Press via Editor & Publisher |
04-04-2008 10:34 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial
Judge Strikes Down Michigan's Primary Records Lawnew
The judge agreed to overturn the law enabling only the Democratic and Republican parties to obtain lists of people who voted in the state's presidential primary, Metro Times reports. The law had been challenged by a lawsuit from the ACLU of Michigan, which the alt-weekly had joined. "The state is not required to provide the party preference information to any party," the judge wrote. "When it chooses to do so, however, it may not provide the information only to the major political parties." Michigan's elections director says they will comply with the ruling, but will not release the records to anyone, even via the Freedom of Information Act. Metro Times reports the ruling won't have any effect on the results of the primary, but could have some implications were Michigan to have a mail-based "do over" primary in order to seat its Democratic delegates at this summer's convention. "[If] voters would be eligible for re-voting in a Democratic primary only if they voted in the first primary," Metro Times asks, "how would the election directors know if the records weren't released?"
Metro Times |
03-27-2008 8:30 am |
Legal News
Tags: Metro Times
Alt-Weekly Explains Why it Held Photos ... Then Publishes Them Allnew
As we reported last week, the California Supreme Court squelched the Santa Barbara Independent's last legal hope in a long fight over turning over some unpublished crime scene photographs. With the court declining to hear an appeal, the paper and staff photographer Paul Wellman faced criminal punishment -- including possible jail time -- if they continued to hold the photos. So the Independent, rather than give the photos to the district attorney, decided to publish all 334 of them on its website this week. "We did make a point of dragging this case out to the bitter end," explains news editor Nick Welsh. "This was in part inspired by the assault on the media that's been taking place for the past eight years, and the utter contempt for the public's right to know -- anything -- displayed by the Bush Administration."
Santa Barbara Independent |
03-20-2008 8:46 am |
Legal News
Federal Court Says Craigslist Isn't Subject to Fair Housing Lawsnew
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Craigslist should not be held liable for discriminatory housing ads posted on the site, the Associated Press reports. The decision upholds a Nov. 2006 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, which ruled that Craigslist serves as an intermediary party, not a publisher, and that the federal Communications Decency Act protects sites that allow users to post unedited messages and communicate freely in forums.
The Associated Press via the San Francisco Chronicle |
03-18-2008 9:12 am |
Legal News
State Supreme Court Declines to Hear Alt-Weekly's Contempt Casenew
The California State Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a petition from the Santa Barbara Independent and staff photographer Paul Wellman asking the court to review a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge's decision to hold the paper and Wellman in contempt of court for not handing over photos from a murder last year, the Independent reports. This exhausts the legal options the paper had to fight the initial ruling. "I'm not surprised," Independent attorney Mike Cooney says. "Even though I'm devoted to the concept the subpoena was overbroad, it's difficult for appellate courts to review during criminal proceedings." Wellman faces potential imprisonment and the paper faces fines if they continue to refuse the subpoena, but both parties haven't yet decided what to do.
Santa Barbara Independent |
03-14-2008 9:58 am |
Legal News
Media Coalition Urges Shield Law Approvalnew
A group of 50 media companies and organizations, including AAN, sent a letter yesterday urging Congress to take up a pair of federal shield law bills and enact them as soon as possible. Both bills (S.2035 and H.R. 2102) have passed through committees, with the House version receiving a full House approval months ago. The letter follows a federal judge's recent decision requiring a former USA Today reporter to personally pay contempt fines for refusing to reveal her confidential sources. UPDATE: USA Today is reporting that a federal appeals court yesterday temporarily blocked the judge's order on the fines.
Editor & Publisher |
03-12-2008 9:47 am |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial
