Juvenile court judge tells Utah newspaper not to publish story
By The Associated Press
06.10.02
OGDEN, Utah — A judge has ordered the Standard-Examiner not to publish a story involving an injured girl who was removed from her home.
The order was handed down by 2nd District Juvenile Court Judge L. Kent Bachman to reporter Cheryl Buchta during a June 4 hearing regarding the custody status of the child.
Buchta was working with a state Division of Child and Family Services caseworker on a story on the division's procedures. Buchta had been discussing with parents the possibility of following their case anonymously, the newspaper said.
The newspaper said Buchta signed a privacy statement agreeing not to reveal names of the child, parents or any identifying characteristics. She had obtained the mother's approval, she said, but the father was still considering his.
The newspaper said that at the June 4 hearing, the mother's public defender, Sharon Sipes, protested Buchta's involvement and told the caseworker she would have the worker investigated for breaching confidentiality statutes.
Buchta was told to leave while officials discussed the issue, and about 15 minutes later was advised by Bachman that the parents did not want to be part of the story, and that the caseworker would be investigated.
He also said he was issuing a restraining order against her publishing a story about the proceedings regarding the parents.
David Fureigh, the assistant state attorney general assigned to the case, said in court: "Their attorneys changed their minds for them, or helped them. They told the judge their clients objected to the story being done."
Ron Thornburg, Standard-Examiner managing editor, said the newspaper was no longer pursuing a story about the case, but not because of the judge's order. He said the newspaper wouldn't write about the case because the mother changed her mind about allowing a reporter to follow the proceedings.
Katy Larsen, director of the DCFS northern region, said the DCFS had asked Buchta to do the story "to get some positive press about the work of the division and highlight some of the problems we deal with."
Randy Dryer, the Standard-Examiner's attorney, called the order "totally inappropriate."
"Prior restraints are virtually always unconstitutional and in this instance for the judge to attempt to enjoin the publication without having a hearing, without making all the necessary findings that irreparable harm would result violates the clear standards that the U.S. Supreme Court has set out," he said.