Landmark Cases and Concepts in Media Law - Prof. Kimberly Voss, Study notes of Mass Communication

Download Landmark Cases and Concepts in Media Law - Prof. Kimberly Voss and more Study notes Mass Communication in PDF only on Docsity! Specific Cases  Titan Sports v. Turner Broadcasting o Developed the need for a definition of “journalist” (for those claiming the Shield Law)  Pennekmap v. Florida o For contempt of the court to be upheld, it needs to have clear and present danger in the courtroom  Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart o Established the need for the Nebraska Press Association Test  Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia o Establishes the right to attend criminal trails  Branzburg v. Hayes o Gave us the Stewart Test  Zurcher v. Stanford Daily o Established the Privacy Act of 1980  Sheppard v. Maxwell o The media influenced the jury too much o A trial can be overturned if the jury is over-influenced by the media  It is the judge’s responsibility to ensure a fair trial  Murphy v. Florida o You can have prior knowledge of the case and still be an impartial juror  Chandler v. Florida o Cameras in the courtroom are now okay Terms/Concepts  Clearly Act o all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep their and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses  FOIA o Exceptions: National Security, Housekeeping, Law Enforcement  Forces transparency of government  Open Meetings/Sunshine Laws o Every government activity should be open to the public  Exceptions: discussion of personnel, involvement in a lawsuit  Privacy Protection Act of 1980 o Federal, state, and local police agencies who seek a journalist’s work products or other documentary materials must get a subpoena for these materials rather than seize them under the authority of a search warrant  FERPA/ Buckley Amendment o Student records or files must be kept confidential  Collateral Bar Rule/Dickinson Rule o All court orders, even those that appear to be unconstitutional and are later deemed to be unconstitutional by an appellate court, must still be obeyed until they are overturned  Shield Law o Journalists don’t have to reveal their sources  Journalist: someone who acts like a journalist and who gathers information with the intent to distribute said information  Stewart Test o In Grand Jury, if a journalist has to testify, it must follow these three parts:  Government must prove probably cause that the journalist has information that is central to the case  There is no other way to gain this information  The government has compelling interest  Contempt of Court/Limits of Contempt o When you don’t follow a judge’s orders  A monetary fine or jail time  Pretrial Publicity & Remedies o Change of Venue  Moving the trial to another community in the same state o Change of Venireman  Instead of moving the trial, you would bring in jurors from another community o Continuance v. Timeliness o Admonish  Cases should be determined by the evidence presented in the court only—not what the media presents o Sequester  Stick the jury in a hotel and don’t let them access any type of media (internet, tv, cell phones, etc.)  First vs. Fourth & Sixth Amendments o First vs. Sixth  Freedom of Speech vs. The Right to a Fair and Speedy Trial o First vs. Fourth  Reports aren’t allowed to follow police officers onto private property  Restrictive Orders/Gag Orders o Restricts what the press can say  Very rare; preventing one media outlet from printing information no longer means that they jury will not receive that information elsewhere. We have the internet now. o Restricts what the trial participants can say  Must be narrowly-tailored  Must have an end date  Nebraska Press Association Test o A test to determine if we can restrict the press from publishing information (3 parts)  It must be a high publicity case  No other remedies work  Will prevent potential jurors from being exposed  First Amendment & Right to Court Access o Presumptively Open Court Documents