FWD: I guess we had all best be quiet?

[Arthur D. Wolf]

        Hell hath no fury like a jurist scorned.  If the documents from which the
quotes are taken are indeed "public," the order is ludicrous.  If they are
not (even though posted in an accessible place), then other issues are
presented.  For example, while the names of jurors are generally made
public, on rare occasion (e.g., in trials involving terrorists or organized
crime figures) their names are sometimes kept confidential to protect the
safety of the jurors (although their names may appear on an internal
computer system for that particular court (a system to which outsiders may
have access, authorized or not).


                                        Art Wolf
                                        Western New England College





At 03:59 PM 4/6/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,42894,00.html
>
>   Cypherpunk Judge Warns Media
>   by Declan McCullagh (declan at wired.com)
>   8:00 a.m. Apr. 6, 2001 PDT
>
>   TACOMA, Washington -- A federal judge has threatened media outlets
>   with contempt charges if they quote from public documents on a court
>   website, prompting outcries from journalist groups.
>
>   U.S. District Judge Jack Tanner warned Thursday that anyone who
>   published the name of a juror in the criminal trial of U.S. v. James
>   Dalton Bell would go to jail. The list of jurors is available on the
>   Pacer website provided by the federal court system.
>
>   "No one in the print media, electronic media, no member of the
>   prosecution, no witness for the prosecution, nor the defense lawyers,
>   are to print, under any circumstances, the names of these jurors...
>   under penalty of contempt," Tanner said.
>
>   Gregg Leslie, the legal defense director for the Virginia-based
>   Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said: "The sweeping
>   nature of such an order is not just unconstitutional, but truly
>   outrageous. Its absurdity is compounded by the fact that it presumes
>   toreach parties not subject to the court's jurisdiction."
>
>   "Unfortunately, many judges seem to think that the old,
>   well-established standards barring prior restraints on publication of
>   truthful, lawfully obtained information don't apply to electronic
>   records or other court information," Leslie said. "They do."
>
>   Tanner is an unpredictable 82-year old jurist known to use his
>   contempt powers broadly.
>
>   In a prior trial involving Bell's defense lawyer, Robert Leen, Tanner
>   briefly held Leen in contempt after his client's son acted up in
>   court.
>
>   Tanner also sealed the entire case file, including traditionally
>   public documents such as the charges against the defendant, until the
>   jury reaches a verdict. The trial is expected to conclude Friday or
>   Monday.
>
>   [...]
>
>
>
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>
>Jim Maule
>Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law
>Villanova PA 19085
>maule at law.villanova.edu
>http://vls.law.vill.edu/prof/maule
>President, TaxJEM Inc (computer assisted tax law instruction)
(www.taxjem.com)
>Publisher, JEMBook Publishing Co. (www.jembook.com)
>Maule Family Archivist & Genealogist (www.maulefamily.com)
>