Media & Communications Law

Facebook Helps Oxford U Enforce Rules

So-called trashings aren’t cricket, under Oxford University rules. But neither is the method the renowned British college is now using to discipline its students for dousing others with champagne, flour and worse in celebration of completing exams, some believe. Disciplinary officials known as proctors have been surfing the Internet, looking…

Jul 17, 2007 8:40 PM CDT

Cockfighting Soon Illegal in 50 States

Cockfighting will soon be illegal in all 50 states. A bill banning the sport in Louisiana, the only state where it is currently legal, was signed yesterday by the state governor and takes effect next summer. It is already illegal to gamble on cockfights in Louisiana under a law that…

Jul 13, 2007 5:56 PM CDT

Media Shields Anthrax Sources

Lawyers for a former Army scientist who says he was improperly named in connection with an anthrax investigation pressed to learn the source of the leak at a hearing on Tuesday. Lawyers for Steven Hatfill said he had met a two-pronged test to compel reporters to reveal their anonymous sources,…

Jul 5, 2007 4:08 PM CDT

Judge Bars Classified Documents

A federal judge has blocked a New York Times lawsuit that sought classified documents related to the government’s warrantless wiretapping program. Judge Richard Berman of Manhattan ruled that the Departments of Defense and Justice were entitled to withhold the material under exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act, the Washington…

Jul 3, 2007 5:53 PM CDT

Lawyers Key to WSJ Sale

Will the Wall Street Journal be sold to Rupert Murdoch? The answer may well depend on lawyers from a Boston firm who are trustees with power to control the fate of the company, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Lawyers from Hemenway & Barnes hold two out of three…

Jul 2, 2007 8:26 PM CDT

FOIA Requests Linger

Some agencies appear to be dragging their feet in response to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act. Sixteen requests for information have been pending for 16 years, and one is 20 years old, according to a survey to be released today by the National Security Archive, a…

Jul 2, 2007 3:47 PM CDT

NYC Jury: Book Scheme Was a Scam

Counsel for Laura Albert said she met her contractual obligation. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t a male prostitute, her defense contended, nor that the book she wrote, “Sarah,” was actually fiction rather than non-fiction. She entered into a contract to sell Antidote International Films Inc. the movie rights to…

Jun 25, 2007 6:23 PM CDT

More Judges Suing for Libel

A newspaper appealing a libel verdict can’t get a hearing before the Illinois Supreme Court. That’s because one of the high court justices was the plaintiff, and four other justices testified on their colleague’s behalf, Adam Liptak writes in his Sidebar column for the New York Times. The Kane County…

Jun 25, 2007 1:47 PM CDT

NYC Jurors Decide: Was Scheme to Portray Fiction as Non-Fiction a Scam?

Was a literary hoax a fraud? That is the question a federal jury in New York City began deciding today, in a case brought by a movie production company to recover money it paid writer Laura Albert for rights to her alleged non-fiction book “Sarah.” The problem is, Sarah was…

Jun 22, 2007 11:13 PM CDT

Crime to Pay for Paris Hilton? Hotel Heiress Offered $1 M for Interview

At least for the moment, it looks like crime may not pay for Paris Hilton. Reportedly offered between $750,000 and $1 million for her first post-incarceration interview after she is released from jail next week, the hotel heiress known for her party girl lifestyle has apparently managed to botch the…

Jun 22, 2007 9:53 PM CDT

CIA to Release Documents on Misconduct

The CIA will release hundreds of classified documents next week about illegal conduct beginning in the 1950s and spanning three decades. The materials document overseas assassination attempts, domestic surveillance, break-ins, theft and civilian experiments, according to the Washington Post. Most of the activities have already been revealed in congressional investigations,…

Jun 22, 2007 3:26 PM CDT

Judges Become Libel Plaintiffs

Judges are suing the news media for libel in big numbers—and winning some big verdicts. Judges were plaintiffs in nearly 10 percent of the libel suits filed in 2005, Tony Mauro writes for Legal Times. Twenty-five judges sued for libel that year. The Boston Herald recently lost its appeal of…

Jun 22, 2007 2:15 PM CDT

N.Y. Post Defamation Suit Dismissed

A New York appeals court has dismissed a former basketball star’s defamation suit against a sports writer for the New York Post. The court said ex-pro player Latrell Sprewell failed to present evidence of actual malice on the part of reporter Marc Berman, the New York Journal Law Journal reports.…

Jun 20, 2007 12:52 PM CDT

Plaintiff is Top Judge; Who Hears Appeal?

It’s a basic premise of constitutional law that litigants are entitled to a fair trial. Thus, when a judge is even peripherally involved in a lawsuit, he or she routinely steps aside and lets another jurist hear the case. But what happens when all the judges in the system are…

Jun 19, 2007 12:05 AM CDT

Lawyer Rankings Rankle, Suit Results

Rankled by lawyer rankings that reportedly gave the dean of Stanford Law School a lower score than that of a dead and disbarred lawyer, affected attorneys are–surprise!–suing. John Henry Browne, a Seattle trial lawyer who is also unhappy about his own score, has filed a federal class action suit against…

Jun 18, 2007 10:05 PM CDT