Media & Communications Law

SCOTUS rejects FOIA case involving Planned Parenthood manual; two justices dissent

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to consider whether an exception to the Freedom of Information Act shields from disclosure Planned Parenthood’s Manual of Medical Standards and Guidelines. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented from the cert denial on Monday in an opinion (PDF) joined by Justice Antonin Scalia. New Hampshire Right…

Nov 16, 2015 9:27 AM CST

Largest public database of Chicago police misconduct allegations debuts

After a decade of litigation, the Invisible Institute of Chicago on Tuesday launched the Citizens Police Data Project, the largest public database of police misconduct allegations in the country. “It’s a historic moment,” says Craig Futterman, clinical professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School and partner on…

Nov 10, 2015 10:00 AM CST

Fraternity files $25M defamation suit over retracted Rolling Stone story about campus rape claim

A fraternity has filed suit over a retracted Rolling Stone article that initially claimed Phi Kappa Psi members had been involved in a gang rape at its house on the University of Virginia. Two independent investigations—by police and a journalism school dean—have found no evidence that any such rape occurred.…

Nov 9, 2015 3:25 PM CST

Judge charged in federal bribery case is accused of paying FBI agent $100 for copies of texts

A North Carolina superior court judge who chairs the state’s Innocence Inquiry Commission was arrested Wednesday after allegedly paying a FBI agent $100 on Tuesday for a disk purportedly containing copies of text messages between two phone numbers. Judge Arnold Ogden Jones II was federally indicted (PDF) by a grand…

Nov 4, 2015 1:45 PM CST

Judge grants Hulk Hogan’s request to inspect Gawker’s computers

A judge has granted Hulk Hogan and his legal team access to Gawker’s computers, smartphones, and network servers to determine whether Gawker employees purposely leaked confidential information about the former pro wrestler, The Hollywood Reporter reported Thursday. Florida Circuit Judge Pamela Campbell ruled that Hogan and his team could search…

Oct 23, 2015 4:15 PM CDT

Lawyer for fugitive Paul Ceglia says in personal lawsuit that Facebook and its counsel defamed him

One of the lawyers who represented fugitive Paul Ceglia in a high-profile unsuccessful lawsuit against Facebook Inc. and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has now filed suit against Facebook on his own behalf. Attorney Paul Argentieri alleges that Facebook, Zuckerberg and the company’s general counsel, Colin Stretch, defamed him in a statement…

Oct 21, 2015 10:40 AM CDT

Federal judge blocks Indiana from enforcing ‘ballot selfie’ ban

An Indiana law making it a felony offense to take a “ballot selfie” at polling places or share it on social media is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Monday. Granting a preliminary injunction sought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker said in…

Oct 20, 2015 11:10 AM CDT

TV judge had ‘little regard for truth and accuracy’ in Robert Durst book, collaborator’s suit says

Just weeks before the scheduled publication of a true-crime book about a member of a wealthy New York family written by a well-known former prosecutor, a onetime collaborator has filed suit against the author. Plaintiff Lisa DePaulo contends that author Jeanine Pirro showed “little regard for truth and accuracy” and…

Oct 19, 2015 4:05 PM CDT

Man takes plea in case over Facebook comments he made about murder trial

Days before his jury trial was set to begin on Monday over “storm the courthouse” remarks he made on Facebook about a controversial murder trial, a Kansas man has accepted a plea deal. Samuel McCrory, 22, pleaded guilty Thursday in the Sedgwick County case to making a criminal threat and…

Oct 15, 2015 4:00 PM CDT

Judge tosses defamation suit by Yankees fan caught napping on camera

A New York judge has tossed a defamation lawsuit filed by a Yankees fan caught napping on camera at an April 2014 game. Judge Julia Rodriguez dismissed the suit by fan Andrew Robert Rector in August, the Smoking Gun reports. Reuters, the New York Daily News and the New York…

Oct 5, 2015 10:56 AM CDT

Federal judge: Psychologist did not need state license to give advice to parents in newspaper column

A North Carolina-licensed psychologist did not need to be licensed in Kentucky to offer no-pampering advice to parents in a nationally syndicated newspaper column, a federal judge says. U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove ruled Wednesday that Kentucky’s attempt to apply licensing regulations to block John Rosemond from publishing…

Oct 2, 2015 3:35 PM CDT

PETA lawyer discusses monkey’s copyright suit over selfie

The U.S. Copyright Office has said that a monkey can’t be the author of a copyrighted work. But a lawsuit filed last week on behalf of Naruto, who is allegedly the monkey whose toothy selfies sparked an Internet sensation, is asking a federal court to find otherwise. In an interview…

Sep 28, 2015 2:35 PM CDT

Federal judge bars California city’s warning about cellphones and children

A federal judge in San Francisco has upheld the city of Berkeley’s law requiring cellphone retailers to alert customers that carrying the phones too close to their bodies might expose them to more radiation than is acceptable under federal standards. But he rejected an additional warning that cellphones cause an…

Sep 22, 2015 3:30 PM CDT

Class action suit seeks damages from Twitter over claimed direct-message privacy violations

Twitter Inc. is violating federal and state privacy statutes by intercepting messages that it bills as “private” and inserting new (and shortened) URLs for hyperlinks, a federal lawsuit says. Filed Monday in San Francisco, it seeks class action status concerning a massive group of individuals who have sent or received…

Sep 15, 2015 2:25 PM CDT

Copyright holders must consider fair use before sending takedown notices, 9th Circuit says

It’s been eight years since Stephanie Lenz posted the video of her infant son dancing to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” onto YouTube that started her long-running conflict with Universal Music Corp., the holder of Prince’s copyrights. According to Reuters, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday…

Sep 14, 2015 5:20 PM CDT