Arizona First Amendment Coalition

Previously censored article printed after high school paper, administration reach compromise

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:33:56 +0000

Thunderbird High School

After a ten-month censorship battle with the Glendale Union High School District, Thunderbird High School’s student newspaper, The Challenge, published and distributed a previously censored article.

The article about the district’s teacher assessment testing was set to publish on May 8, 2009, and is now in the Feb. 12 of The Challenge, along with the district’s response.

Negotiations took place between student editors and administrators to publish the original article and the district’s response after a long appeals process.

Nationwide study shows subpoenas increasing, impacting newsgathering

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:22:21 +0000

A large-scale empirical study of media subpoenas, to be published this year in Washington Law Review, suggests that the problem of media subpoenas is on the increase and that the receipt of a subpoena can seriously impact the newsgathering process. It also suggests that journalists are poorly informed of their own legal protection.

Read more at http://www.spj.org/convention/handouts/jail-time.pdf

Amicus Brief in metadata case

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:59:42 +0000

Click here to read the amicus brief that was filed in the Arizona Supreme Court on behalf of the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Arizona Newspapers Association in Lake v. City of Phoenix. I think the brief turned out well and many thanks to Professor Steve Doig at ASU’s Cronkite School for his invaluable assistance.

Sedona reporter tests Rule 122

Great quote

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:40:15 +0000

Dann Barr

If people don’t enforce their rights, they lose them.

— Dan Barr

Sedona reporter tests Rule 122

admin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:22:57 +0000

Tommy Acosta, editor of the Sedona Times and a freelance writer for Sedona.biz, has been ordered by the Sedona Magistrate Court to show cause why he should not be found in “indirect civil contempt” for allegedly videotaping a court proceeding.

Jennifer S. Paetkau, an assistant city attorney for the City of Sedona, alleges that Mr. Acosta, while attending a driving-with-suspended-license Arraignment proceeding for Melinda Arnold June 17 at the City Council Chamber, with the knowledge of the defendant, videotaped the proceeding without permission from the court, therefore violating Rule 122(f) of the Arizona Rules of the Supreme Court.

Final Report on Rule 123

Ariz. appeals court rules metadata aren’t public records

admin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:36:53 +0000

A divided Arizona appellate court has ruled that hidden electronic data that indicate how and when documents are produced with word-processing computer programs aren’t themselves public records. Read more: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/press/information/news.aspx?id=21130

Final Report on Rule 123

admin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:05:34 +0000

Rule 123, Rules of the Supreme Court of Arizona, governs public access to records maintained by the judiciary. The foundation of the Rule is that court records should be open to everyone. But exactly what information should be available to the public online for individual cases? Should certain users be authorized to directly access case management databases in real time, such as government agencies, government contractors, commercial agencies subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the news media, or research organizations? If so, what standards and processes are needed to qualify for such access? The Advisory Committee on Supreme Court Rule 123 and Data Dissemination examines these and other issues in their final report: http://supreme.state.az.us/Rule123/Rule%20123%20%20DDA%20Committee%20Report%20v4.pdf.

Sedona reporter tests Rule 122

Great quote

admin — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 11:25:44 +0000

If it’s government business, it’s public business.

—Dave Cuillier

Great quote

admin — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 10:21:41 +0000

Public records aren’t just about the media — it’s about the public.

— Laurie Roberts