Roundup: Michigan newspaper appeals judge's order barring juror photos

07.21.00

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The Times Herald has appealed a decision by St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge Peter Deegan, who seized film from photographers after the rape trial of a former mayor. Times Herald photographers Mark Rummel and Tony Pitts were arrested outside the county courthouse on May 12, and their film was seized as they tried to take photographs in the aftermath of Gerald "Ajax" Ackerman's trial. Deegan had issued an order after the verdict, saying news media couldn't photograph jurors without the jurors' consent. Deegan's attorney Gary Fletcher said the photographers "flagrantly violated" the order once all 12 jurors said they did not want to meet with the media. The Times Herald contends that the judge's limits didn't include necessary time and geographic boundaries, and that the arrests and the seizure of film without a hearing constituted a continuing violation of free-press and due-process rights and due-process rights. Associated Press

Tennessee: Newspaper seeks to join lawsuit against legislative closed meetings

The Tennessean plans to ask a judge if it can join a lawsuit challenging closed meetings held by members of the state Legislature, attorneys for the newspaper said. The lawsuit, joined last week by the weekly Nashville Scene and the Internet news site Nashville Post.com, seeks renewed and open meetings on the state budget and asks that Circuit Court Judge Hamilton Gayden enjoin the Legislature from any further violations of the Open Meetings Act. The original lawsuit, filed June 30 on behalf of former television newsman Mark Mayhew, claimed legislators met secretly to discuss the budget during the last session in violation of the Open Meetings Act. The Tennessean's filing, called an amicus curiae brief, is intended to emphasize a provision of the state constitution that protects free press. Associated Press

North Carolina: Group forms to promote prayers at football games

More than 350 church pastors and their followers gathered in North Carolina July 19 to promote efforts to counter a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on school prayer and promote prayer by spectators at football games this fall. Churches involved in the effort are soliciting contributions to pay for an advertising campaign, said the Rev. Ralph Sexton, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Asheville. The pro-prayer campaign will place advertisements in newspapers, radio and television as well as billboards urging spectators to pray before football games. The Supreme Court last month reaffirmed that government-sponsored prayer in public schools is unconstitutional. With a 6-3 vote in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, the court barred school officials from letting students lead stadium crowds in prayers before football games. Sexton said he won't encourage school officials or students to lead the prayer. In addition, the group will conduct petition drives urging Congress to pass a constitutional amendment reversing court decisions disallowing organized prayer in schools. Associated Press

Virginia: ACLU to seek reversal of Net-sex ban

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a law barring state employees from accessing sexually explicit material on the Internet, the organization said July 20. Six college professors filed a lawsuit challenging the law, arguing that it was an unconstitutional impediment to academic freedom and would inhibit legitimate research. However, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law in a 8-4 ruling last month. The ACLU filed papers July 19, asking the appeals court to delay enforcement of the law while the organization appeals to the Supreme Court. Kent Willis, the ACLU's executive director for Virginia, said he expected to file the appeal in the next two months. Associated Press

Michigan: State attorney general appeals judge's decision on anti-stalking law

State Attorney General Jennifer Granholm has filed an appeal challenging a federal judge's ruling that Michigan's anti-stalking law is unconstitutional. The appeal, filed July 19 with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Ohio, is one of several avenues lawmakers and domestic violence activists are taking to ensure Michigan's anti-stalking law remains on the books after U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen ruled July 14 that the law limits freedom of speech. Under the law, people may be convicted of a felony if they make unwanted contact with a victim two or more times and make a "credible threat" at least once. Enslen was considering the case of convicted stalker Jerry Lee Staley, who is serving a 15- to 25-year sentence. In her appeal, Granholm argued that Staley's conduct wasn't constitutionally protected. Staley's attorney, David Dodge, said the law was too ambiguous. Meanwhile, state Rep. Jim Howell, R-St. Charles, said he was drafting a bill that would address Enslen's constitutionality questions. Associated Press

Nevada: Federal appeals court weighs arguments in dispute over sidewalk protests

Attorneys for a Las Vegas casino asked a federal appeals court this week to bar union protesters from the sidewalk in front of the resort. Walter Dellinger, a Washington, D.C., attorney for the Venetian hotel-casino, told the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals July 18 that individuals don't have the right to protest on someone else's property. But union and ACLU lawyers told the court July 18 that the 10-foot wide section of sidewalk in front of the Las Vegas resort was open to public access, and people have a right to exercise their First Amendment rights. The San Francisco-based court will rule later. The Venetian filed a lawsuit last year seeking an order declaring the sidewalk private property that couldn't be used for public demonstrations. The suit came after the Culinary Union staged a massive demonstration on the Venetian sidewalks to protest what it called the resort's anti-labor policies. U.S. District Judge Phil Pro ruled against the Venetian, which appealed to the federal appeals court. Associated Press

Kansas: State high court dismisses media challenge to court access in murder case

The Kansas Supreme Court has dismissed a request filed by three newspapers and the Kansas Press Association over access to court records. But attorney Mike Merriam, who represented The Hutchinson News, The Salina Journal, The Wichita Eagle and the state press association, said July 19 that the issue inevitably would come up again. The newspapers' complaint arose in the case of Christopher Jones, who was sentenced July 5 to life in prison after pleading guilty to three first-degree murder counts in the deaths of his children. After Jones was charged, McPherson County District Court Judge Carl B. Anderson announced he would review all motions before placing them in the public court file and ordered attorneys not to release any motions directly to reporters. The judge later overruled a challenge by the newspapers and the press association, which said Anderson's decision hindered their efforts to inform the public. Anderson said he was trying to balance the public's First Amendment right to know with the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial. Associated Press

Tennessee: County approves religious freedom plaque for courthouse

Thomas Jefferson's 18th Century writings on religious freedom will join a Ten Commandments plaque at the Sullivan County Courthouse. The County Commission voted 15-7 on July 17 to allow Gary Melvin of Bluff City to post a plaque of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Residents may request posting a courthouse plaque if it has historical significance and will be of no expense to the county. Melvin's plaque will join an "American Heritage Documents" plaque containing the Ten Commandments, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. That plaque, placed in the courthouse last December, was sponsored by the Sullivan Baptist Association and drew criticism from the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Associated Press

Texas: Attorney general creates new position to promote open government

Texas Attorney General John Cornyn announced July 19 that he created a new post specifically designed to focus on open-record decisions and to educate state government departments about their obligations under the Open Records Act. Rebecca Payne, who had been the open-records division chief since January 1999, will take over the new post. Under her supervision, the open-records division issued, on average, 43% of its rulings within 20 days compared to 4% within 20 days by the previous administration in 1998, Cornyn said. The division also averaged 422 rulings a month, compared to 320 a month last year and 279 a month in 1998. Associated Press

Updates

Tennessee appeals panel overturns ruling on secret legislative meetings
Judges say state's open-meetings law doesn't apply to General Assembly, state constitution allows lawmakers to decide when to hold closed sessions.  01.12.01

Court to lawmakers: Tennessee Legislature not exempt from open-meetings law
Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit claiming legislators illegally met in secret to craft state budget.  08.07.00