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Prior Restraint

Jul 2023

Ohio Appellate Court Upholds Post-Trial Libel Injunction

John C. Greiner

An Ohio court recently demonstrated how a court may enjoin a party from libeling someone, without violating the Constitution.

Jun 2023

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Fights Prior Restraint on Publication of Murder Defendant’s Mental Health Report

Jean Maneke

Joseph E. Martineau, attorney with Lewis Rice LLC who is defending the Post-Dispatch, argued that there is a long history of courts rejecting any effort to restrain publication under such circumstances, given that the pleading was lawfully obtained by the reporter in its quick response to the Court.

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Oct 2021

Maryland “Broadcast Ban” Is Unconstitutional as Applied to NPR Podcast

Leslie Minora, Max Mishkin, and Charles D. Tobin

A Maryland federal judge has ruled that a state law banning the broadcast of lawfully-obtained recordings of criminal trials violates the First Amendment as applied to a National Public Radio podcast.

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Jun 2021

The Pentagon Papers 50 Years Later

George Freeman

Fifty 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…

Mar 2021

PA High Court Upholds Gag Order Forbidding Mother from Speaking Her Own Name

Ross Ufberg

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in the face of a powerful dissent, upheld a stunningly capacious gag order last December.

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Feb 2021

Contempt and Suppression Down Under

Peter Bartlett

When the third most powerful man in the Vatican was convicted of molesting two choirboys by an Australian jury in December 2018, media companies scrambled worldwide. Yet in Australia, there was media silence on specific details of the case.

Nov 2020

Anti-Libel Injunctions and the Criminal Libel Connection: A Conversation with Professor Eugene Volokh

Eugene Volokh explains his theory that post-trial libel injunctions are constitutional.