Roundup: Federal judge refuses to halt Virginia minute-of-silence law
09.01.00
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A federal judge declined yesterday to issue an injunction that would
halt a Virginia law requiring public school students to observe a minute of
silence. The law, which took effect July 1, requires all school districts to
impose a minute of silence so students can meditate, pray or engage in any
other silent activity. The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia
filed suit on behalf of eight
students who said the new law violates their First Amendment rights. The
ruling by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Claude Hilton does not directly
address the merits of the ACLU lawsuit. Hilton said he agrees with state
Solicitor General William Hurd, who argued that students will suffer no
irreparable harm if the law remains in effect until a final decision is made in
a week or two. But Stuart H. Newberger, a Washington attorney who argued the
case on behalf of the ACLU, said tens of thousands of students will be harmed
significantly every day the law is in effect because it infringes on their
constitutional rights. Newberger said he would seek an injunction from the 4th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond to stop the law from taking effect
before most students begin classes Sept. 5. A ruling by the appeals court could
come as early as today. Hilton will hear arguments on the merits of the case
Sept. 8. Associated Press
Texas: Bush loses motion for dismissal from protesters'
lawsuit
Gov. George W. Bush has lost his bid for dismissal from a lawsuit
accusing him of violating the free-speech rights of environmental protesters at
the Governor's Mansion. State District Judge John Dietz on Aug. 30 said Bush,
the Republican presidential nominee, could be called to testify when the case
goes to trial. No date has been set. The lawsuit alleged that Bush gave state
troopers "unbridled discretion" to target protesters picketing in front of the
mansion last year on a public sidewalk. Bush spokesman Mike Jones said
yesterday that security policies regarding the mansion were made by the
Department of Public Safety, with no involvement by Bush or his office. The
lawsuit was filed against Bush and the DPS in August 1999 by people arrested
and jailed on four different occasions. They were protesting environmental
policies backed by Bush. In each case the Travis County district attorney's
office dropped charges of blocking an entry way. Rick Abraham, one of those
arrested, said previous governors allowed protesters to picket on the sidewalk
and Bush is trying to silence his critics because he is running for president.
Jones denied the accusation. Associated Press
District of Columbia: Bill may open doctor files
Patients will be able to examine the government's secret dossiers on
their doctors, including disciplinary actions and malpractice payments, if a
House committee chairman gets his way. Rep. Tom Bliley, R-Va., chairman of the
House Commerce Committee, plans to introduce legislation next week to give the
public access to the federal data bank that tracks critical records on health
care providers. Bliley also plans to hold hearings on the legislation early
this month with the intention of pushing it through the House before Congress
adjourns for the year, committee spokesman Stephen Schmidt said Aug. 28. While
details of the measure are still being finalized, Schmidt says it will be
modeled after a Massachusetts law that provides patients with profiles of all
physicians licensed in the state, including disciplinary actions and
malpractice payments. The profiles are available over the Internet. Bliley has
not decided whether the legislation will require public release of all
malpractice payments made by or on behalf of any physician, or just those by
health care providers with multiple payments, said Schmidt. Under current law,
identifying information and most of the details in the database can be shared
only with insurance companies, hospitals, and federal and state health care
regulators. Associated Press
California: Bill would allow parties to include independents in
their primaries
California's political parties could allow independents to help pick
their nominees under a bill headed for Gov. Gray Davis' desk. The bill, by Sen.
Steve Peace, D-El Cajon, is a response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision last
June striking down California's open primary election. Under the open primary,
voters could vote for any candidate regardless of their own party registration.
The high court ruled that system violated political parties' First Amendment
rights of association. The decision restored the state's old primary system,
under which only members of a political party are allowed to vote for that
party's candidates. Peace's bill would allow, but not require, a political
party to let independents help pick the party's nominees. The Senate voted 28-4
Aug. 31 to approve Assembly amendments to the bill, sending it to Davis.
Associated Press
Massachusetts: 'Perfect Storm' filmmakers sued
The family of doomed fishing boat captain Frank William "Billy" Tyne
Jr. is suing the makers of this summer's big screen hit "The Perfect Storm,"
contending he was depicted in a "false and unflattering light." Tyne's two
daughters and his wife filed a lawsuit Aug. 24 in U.S. District Court in
Orlando, Fla., against Time Warner Entertainment Co. and the two companies that
produced the film. The lawsuit also contends that the movie was produced
without their consent and their privacy was violated. Time Warner released a
statement Aug. 29 saying the studio didn't need permission from Tyne's family
to make the film or portray him. The film, based on the book by the same name
by author Sebastian Junger, tells the story of Tyne's final sword-fishing
expedition in October 1991 into the heart of storms that converged in the North
Atlantic. Tyne and five crewmembers on the Gloucester-based boat all drowned,
and the boat, the Andrea Gail, was never found. The family is seeking
compensatory and punitive damages, as well as royalties from the movie.
Associated Press
Indiana: Baptist Temple continues tax fight
Federal Judge Sarah Evans Barker has urged the Indianapolis Baptist
Temple and the U.S. attorney's office to reach a compromise in a $6 million tax
dispute that has spanned more than a decade and could cost the church its
property, including the temple and a school as well as other church holdings.
The government is attempting to collect $6 million dollars in back withholding
taxes, penalties and interest. The church has argued that paying the taxes
would amount to a sacrilege by recognizing the federal government as an
authority higher than God. Indianapolis Baptist Temple attorney Al Cunningham
says that it is unlikely that the church will reverse its position. Earlier
this month, a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled the tax laws are "neutral"
and don't run afoul of the First Amendment protections of the free exercise of
religion. The judge has not yet made a decision in this case but could allow
the immediate seizure of church property or grant a delay in foreclosure with
certain restrictions. Associated Press
Louisiana: Former governor appeals contempt citation
Editor's note: The Associated Press reported May 26, 2002, that former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards had decided not to appeal his $1,700 fine for violating a gag order in the Cascade Insurance Co. corruption case. It would cost more than that to fight the citation for contempt of court, Edwards said. "We just decided to let it go."
A week after he was fined for what a judge says was a violation of her
gag order, former Gov. Edwin Edwards said he would do his best to remain mute
while he appealed the $1,700 fine to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In
documents released Aug. 29, Edwards' appealed U.S. District Judge Edith Brown
Clement's contempt of court citation against him. Edwards also asked that he
not have to pay the money until a decision was rendered on his appeal. Clement
had ordered Edwards to pay the fine before Sept. 1. Edwards made a comment
after a pretrial hearing Aug. 23 to the news media about a letter that
contradicts the government's position that he, along with state Insurance
Commissioner Jim Brown and four others charged in the case, rigged a sweetheart
deal for the owner of a failed Shreveport insurance company. Clement has warned
Edwards that she will fine him $1,000 a word for any future violations.
Associated Press
Wisconsin: Task force recommends changes to state's open-records
laws
A task force is recommending that the state Legislature clarify
Wisconsin's open-records laws, contending several judicial interpretations have
made their implementation "cumbersome." The committee draft report recommends
that the Legislature make it clear that portions of public employees' personnel
records aren't covered by the open-records laws. It urges lawmakers to create
an expedited process for judicial review when other portions of their records
are requested. It also asks legislators to clarify that provisions in the law
requiring notification prior to the release of some personal records only
applies to public employee records. Key provisions for news media are the time
limits being proposed. A public employee would have five days to challenge
release of the information, and a judge would decide the matter within 10 days.
Extensions, stretching the 10 days to 30 days, would be allowed. But if the
court did not reach a decision within 30 days, the records would automatically
be made public, according to the draft report. Associated Press
Indiana: Journalism society files friend-of-the-court brief in
Tiger Woods case
The Society of Professional Journalists has asked the 6th Circuit
Court of Appeals in Ohio to reject Tiger Woods' appeal in a right-of-publicity
lawsuit. The SPJ on Aug. 23 joined the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the
Press in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in the ongoing case. The
Indianapolis-based organization says Woods' appeal threatens First Amendment
rights. If the appeal is successful, the SPJ says, it would increase the
potential for publicity-rights laws to extend into the newsgathering process.
Woods sued Alabama artist Rick Rush after he painted Woods at the Masters golf
tournament in April 1997 and then sold 250 limited-edition serigraphs and 5,000
smaller lithographs. Woods claims the sale of the paintings violates his
trademark and right of publicity. In April U.S. District Judge Patricia
Gaughan in Cleveland ruled that
trademark or property-rights laws do not protect Woods' image and that the
First Amendment allows Rush not only to paint Woods' image but also to profit
from copies of the artwork. Associated Press
South Carolina: State official urges school district to follow
court's prayer ruling
Letting students pray over district public address systems at football
games in defiance of a Supreme Court ruling is a losing legal battle for
Lexington School District 3, state Attorney General Charlie Condon says.
Instead, the district should support a proposed constitutional amendment by
U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., that would allow prayer in public schools,
Condon said yesterday. Condon said the board should reverse its recent
resolution allowing prayer at football games because of the threat of a lawsuit
by the American Civil Liberties Union. Condon said a moment of silence or
spontaneous prayers initiated by students or others were constitutional.
Associated Press
Alabama: Weekly newspaper settles libel claim for
$300,000
The Washington County News
settled a libel suit against it for $300,000, avoiding a trial scheduled this
week over its award-winning 1997 story about the disappearance of a young
woman. Joseph Eugene Williams Jr. of Fruitdale sued the newspaper and its
former managing editor, Larry O'Hara, claiming the story about the 1978
disappearance of Cathy Sue Carpenter damaged his reputation. The story on the
20th anniversary of her disappearance pitched the theory, based on anonymous
sources, that Carpenter had been raped and sodomized at a wild party, then
killed and her body dumped down a well in Fruitdale. The newspaper claimed to
know Carpenter's killers, but never named the suspects. The lawsuit contended
that the News had printed enough
information that people began to harass Williams. Local residents began asking
Williams what he did with Carpenter's body, the lawsuit states. At least two
key details printed in the News
linked the suspects with Williams, said Hank Caddell, one of four attorneys
representing Williams. One was a map with an arrow identifying the area where
the woman allegedly disappeared, near his client's property, he said. The other
detail was an altercation between one of the paper's sources and a member of
Williams' family. Associated Press
Related
Federal judge upholds Virginia minute-of-silence law
'The momentary silence neither advances nor inhibits religion,' court finds; ACLU says it will appeal.
10.31.00
Federal judge bars public, press from Louisiana corruption trial
Media outlets ask appeals court for access to trial of former Gov. Edwin Edwards.
09.19.00
Prayer protest drowned out at Texas field where debate began
Meanwhile, some students, parents lead pre-game prayer rallies at other Southern schools; at least one school defies Supreme Court ruling.
09.05.00
'Perfect Storm' lawsuit thrown out
Federal judge says movie protected by First Amendment and that filmmakers must be allowed leeway in depicting people, events.
05.10.02
