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By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
Joel Mowbray, a reporter for the National Review, was held for half an hour at the conclusion of a briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C. on July 12, 2002. Mowbray had written an article critical of the U.S. visa policy in Saudi Arabia, which he speculated may have allowed three of the September 11 terrorists to enter the country. According to a report in the Washington Post, Mowbray also testified before a House Government Reform Subcommittee in June 2002. Those authorities are currently investigating Saudi visa fraud.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
In mid-June, 2002, a Minnesota Court of Appeals panel reversed a lower court ruling that held Maplewood Review reporter Wally Wakefield in contempt for not revealing his sources in a libel suit, releasing Wakefield from contempt charges and a $200 a day fine. (See Winter 2002 Bulletin, "Minnesota Shield Law Facing Test" and Weinberger v. Maplewood Review et al. (2002 Minn. App. LEXIS 711 (Minn. Ct. App. 2002)) Weinberger, a football coach for a local high school, had been fired from his job following accusations of misconduct. Wakefield had covered the story for the Maplewood Review, incorporating statements from unnamed school officials who alleged that Weinberger had intimidated the players. Weinberger sued the school district and four school officials for defamation. Wakefield himself was not sued, but in August 2000, he was subpoenaed to reveal the identities of the confidential sources. Wakefield refused. At a November 2001 hearing, he was found in contempt of court and was fined $200 a day. Wakefield appealed his case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
On July 12, 2002, Federal District Judge T.S. Ellis III refused to quash a subpoena issued to Robert Young Pelton, the CNN reporter who interviewed American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh. (See U.S. v. Lindh, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13233 (D. Va., July 12, 2002)) Four days later, the issue became moot when Lindh pled guilty to two felony charges.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
On July 12, 2002, Federal District Judge T.S. Ellis III refused to quash a subpoena issued to Robert Young Pelton, the CNN reporter who interviewed American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh. (See U.S. v. Lindh, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13233 (D. Va., July 12, 2002)) Four days later, the issue became moot when Lindh pled guilty to two felony charges.
By Kirsten Murphy, Silha Fellow
President Bush's proposal for a new cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security contains provisions for a broad FOIA exemption. Under the Bush plan, information voluntarily supplied to the government by private businesses would not be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
By Kirsten Murphy, Silha Fellow
Europol, the police and intelligence arm of the European Union, has proposed a plan that will require member states' telephone operators and Internet Service Providers to retain records regarding telephone and Internet activity for a period of up to five years.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
Four reporters from the Philadelphia Inquirer were found in contempt and sentenced in June 2002 for violating a court order not to "contact or attempt to interview" any member of the jury of the New Jersey murder trial of Rabbi Fred Neulander, who was charged with hiring a hit man to kill his wife, Carol. The trial ended on November 13, 2001 in a mistrial.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
Cybersquatting is defined in Black's Law Dictionary as "the act of reserving a domain name on the Internet, especially a name that would be associated with a company's trademark." In recent weeks, two men in different parts of the country have been ruled to be cybersquatters. One of them considers it a matter of freedom of speech; for the other, it is a matter of profit. New York resident John Barry has arguably been cybersquatting for profit.
By Kirsten Murphy, Silha Fellow
On July 2, 2002, the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, unanimously decided that Internet publications are subject to the single publication rule, so that each subsequent viewing of an Internet site is not considered to be a republication. The decision, Firth v. State, 2002 N.Y. LEXIS 1901, upheld a Court of Claims decision to grant summary judgment to the State of New York, denying plaintiff George Firth's defamation claim.
By Kirsten Murphy, Silha Fellow
In a reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on April 16, 2002 that it is unconstitutional under the First Amendment to ban the production, possession or distribution of computer-generated child pornography (Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 122 S.Ct. 1389 (2002); see also Spring 2002 Bulletin, "Supreme Court Strikes Down Virtual Child Pornography Law"), the House passed HR 4623, the Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002, on June 25. The bill amends the 1996 Child Pornography Protection Act (CPPA), 18 U.S.C. section2256.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
A "Declaration of Internet Users' Rights" was published by 18 Chinese dissidents and intellectuals in China on July 29, 2002, according to Agence France-Presse. The declaration calls for the Chinese people to have complete freedom in surfing the Internet. Additionally, the Declaration of Rights states that creators of Web pages must be restricted only with regard to "evident and real" slander, pornography or certain "violent attacks or behavior."
By Kirsten Murphy, Silha Fellow
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in July 2002 that statements made by a Minnesota resident in an Internet chat room were not sufficiently directed toward readers in the state of Alabama to require Minnesota to confer "full faith and credit" on an Alabama district court decision finding that the statements were libelous (see Griffis v. Luban, 2002 Minn. LEXIS 461 (Minn. 2002).
By Kirsten Murphy, Silha Fellow
On May 31, 2002, a federal court special panel in Philadelphia ruled that the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) signed by President Clinton in 2000, is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment. The Act, codified as Pub. L. No. 106-554, required public libraries to implement software that filters sexually explicit content. By July 1, 2002, any library refusing to implement the software would have risked the loss of federal funding.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
Two popular Italian television programs whose anchors have been critical of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi were removed from the fall 2002 lineup on state television RAI in late June. Michele Santaro and Enzo Baiagi were accused by Berlusconi of making "criminal use of public television," according to the London Independent. Executives at RAI attributed the cancellation to poor ratings, but members of Berlusconi's opposition believe that the prime minister is trying to silence any opinions critical of his policies. Berlusconi owns three national private television channels, including Mediaset, the largest in Italy. (See Spring 2002 Bulletin, "Italian Prime Minister's Media Holdings Running Risk of Becoming a Monopoly").
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
Two Belarussian journalists, Nikolai Markevich and Pavel Mozheiko, were convicted of libeling Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko on June 24, 2002, according to the Associated Press. Both men had worked for the Pahonia (Pursuit) newspaper, which had been shut down on November 12, 2001 by order of the Supreme Court of Arbitration.
By Kirsten Murphy, Silha Fellow
Twelve journalists have been arrested in Zimbabwe since the March 15, 2002 passage of repressive new press laws. The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) was passed shortly before the controversial election of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and has been used to intimidate and repress independent journalists in Zimbabwe.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
Palo Alto police served several newspapers in the San Francisco Bay area with search warrants during June 2002. The offices of the Daily News, which publishes both the Palo Alto Daily News and the San Mateo Daily News, as well as those of Metro Newspapers, publishers of three Bay area weeklies in San Jose, received search warrants demanding the invoices of customers who purchased advertising space for their massage parlors. According to the Associated Press, some of those customers had been arrested in a May 11, 2002 raid of illegally-operated massage and acupuncture parlors that also served as fronts for prostitution.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
Five of Britain's largest news organizations were served court orders on July 12, 2002, by lawyers from Interbrew SA, a Belgian brewing company, directing them to return original copies of leaked and falsified documents about Interbrew's bid to take over South African Breweries (SAB). The documents, sent to the news organizations by an anonymous source, were allegedly doctored in order to manipulate the price of shares for both Interbrew and SAB. When the news organizations published stories based on the documents last November, it caused Interbrew's shares to decline in value while SAB's rose. Interbrew claims this is a case of insider trading and whoever leaked the information may have profited from the false information.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
In June 2002, alternative newspaper the Boston Phoenix posted a link on its Web site to the unedited video showing the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl by Pakistani terrorists. Phoenix publisher Stephen M. Mindich defended the paper's decision to link to the video, saying, "If there is anything that should galvanize every non-Jew hater in the world - of whatever faith, or of no faith - against the perpetrators and supporters of those who committed this unspeakable murder - it should be the viewing of this video." Mindich went on to question the silence of the U.S. government over the incident.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
On June 10, 2002, Romanian president Ion Iliescu said that he would not sign into law proposed legislation that would have required newspaper editors to publish responses to articles readers found offensive. According to the Associated Press, the law would have forced newspapers to publish responses in the same place as the original article appeared. Non-compliance with the law could have resulted in a fine of up to 100 million lei, or more than $3000. President Iliescu told members of the Romanian Press Club that the measure would be sent back to parliament, a reversal of his earlier position.
By Kirsten Murphy, Silha Fellow
On June 10, 2002, President Vicente Fox fulfilled his campaign promise to promote an open government by signing Mexico's first freedom of information act. The Transparency and Access to Public government Information Act, which was endorsed by all three political parties and approved by both houses of Congress in the 2002 spring session, is designed to "encourage accountability to citizens" and "contribute to the democratization of Mexican society," according to Article 4 of the Act.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
On July 12, 2002, a three-judge panel of the Florida appeals court affirmed a ruling by Broward County Fla. Circuit Court Judge Leroy H. Moe that autopsy photos are "presumptively private, " upholding a state law sealing autopsy photos passed following the death of NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt on February 18, 2001. The Florida law prohibits the release of autopsy photos, making release a felony punishable by a $5000 fine and up to five years in prison. (See Summer 2001 Bulletin, " New Florida Law Closes Door on Autopsy Photos.")
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
In a 5 to 1 decision issued June 27, 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Minnesota legal ethics code prohibiting candidates for judicial office from announcing their views on "disputed legal or political issues." (See Republican Party v. White, 122 S. Ct. 2528 (2002); see also Minn. Code of Judicial Conduct, Canon 5 (A)(3)(d)(i) (2000)) Known as the "Announce Clause," the prohibition was promulgated by the Minnesota Supreme Court and based on of Canon 7 (B) of the 1972 American Bar Association Model Code of Judicial Conduct. Incumbent judges who violated the restriction were subject to discipline, which could have included removal from office, censure, civil penalties, and suspension without pay. Any lawyer who wished to run for office was also required to comply with the Announce Clause.
By Kirsten Murphy, Silha Fellow
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) does not create a judicially enforceable individual right to privacy, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 20, 2002. In a 7 to 2 decision, the Court decided that the Act, which is designed to protect the privacy of students' educational records, is not enforceable through the federal civil rights statute 42 U.S.C.S. section 1983.
By Kirsten Murphy, Silha Fellow
The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a Stratton, Ohio ordinance requiring solicitors to register with the mayor's office and obtain a permit before engaging in door-to-door canvassing. In an 8 to 1 vote, the Court ruled that the ordinance violated the First Amendment as it applies to religious proselytizing, anonymous political speech, and the distribution of handbills.
By Elaine Hargrove-Simon, Silha Fellow and Bulletin editor
Jonathan Randal, who in 1993 wrote a story for the Washington Post containing quotes from an interview with former Bosnian Serb housing minister, Radoslav Brdjanin, was subpoenaed on January 29, 2002 to appear before the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The tribunal is trying Brdjanin and Momir Talic for their participation in ethnic cleansing during the 1992-1995 war of succession from Yugoslavia.
