Newsgathering
All Animals Are Equal: Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of First Amendment Challenge to Arkansas Ag-Gag Law
Mike NeppleIn Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Vaught,the court reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging an Arkansas “ag-gag” law, which allows commercial facilities to sue parties for conducting undercover investigations into farm animal welfare and recover up to $5,000 per day in damages.
As Harry And Meghan Become a Hybrid Royal /Celebrity Couple, What If Any Is Their Impact on Celebrity Reporting?
Amber Melville-BrownThe employment of a PR velvet glove around an iron legal fist appears to be the couple’s strategy for elbowing third party reporters and snappers out of the way as they take control of their own images.
Sixth Circuit Dismisses Journalist’s Claims of Interference in Newsgathering
Christopher ProczkoThomas believed that her removal and subsequent exclusion from the List was retribution, motivated by the City government’s disapproval of her coverage.
SCOTUS Ruling on Computer Fraud and Abuse Act May Help Investigative Journalists
Lynn Oberlander and Charles D. TobinJournalists may face less risk for commonplace investigative computer reporting techniques thanks to a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Pentagon Papers 50 Years Later
George FreemanFifty years has not definitively resolved the impact and import of the Pentagon Papers case. Was it a monumental victory for the press? Was it a loss, since for the first time the courts imposed a prior restraint on a newspaper? Or was it an inconsequential one-off, since it hasn’t been a precedent for many…
Law Banning Audio Recording of Bail Proceedings in Philadelphia Is Unconstitutional
Paul Safier and Shawn F. SummersThis ruling appears to be the first federal court decision to recognize a First Amendment right to record judicial proceedings in any circumstance.
Eleventh Circuit Upholds Qualified Immunity for Police Officer
Jacqueline A. DeJournett and Peter CanfieldOn April 20, the Eleventh Circuit upheld qualified immunity for a police officer, finding that a witness to a highway accident not did have a clearly established right to photograph police conduct at the scene.
NDAs Take an “L”: Court Rules Trump Campaign Non-Disclosure Agreement Unenforceable
Joe SlaughterSDNY Judge Paul Gardephe struck a blow for transparency in ruling that non-disclosure and non-disparagement provisions in a Trump Campaign employment contract are invalid and unenforceable as a matter of New York contract law.
Source Anonymity: A Practical Checklist of Issues and Questions
Craig T. Merritt and Steven D. ZansbergA practical checklist for attorneys to use when a client seeks advice about potential criminal or civil liability arising out of accessing and/or publishing information where the source (a) was not legally authorized to obtain and/or disclose the information to the press, and (b) insists on being promised confidentiality as a condition for providing the…
Jury Finds Iowa Journalist Andrea Sahouri Not Guilty
Nick Klinefeldt and David YoshimuraDes Moines Register journalist Andrea Sahouri was arrested while covering a Black Lives Matter protest occurring in the wake of George Floyd’s death.