Judge in Jim Bell trial says media may not quote public documents

[Phillip Hallam-Baker]

rumor has it that Tanner is going to replace Jackson on the Microsoft trial
and vice versa. this will allow the appeals court to make an empirical test
of a question that has long troubled them, which one of the judges is the
greater jackass.

	Phill

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-fight-censorship at vorlon.mit.edu
> [mailto:owner-fight-censorship at vorlon.mit.edu]On Behalf Of Declan
> McCullagh
> Sent: Friday, April 06, 2001 12:13 PM
> To: cypherpunks at cyberpass.net; fight-censorship at vorlon.mit.edu
> Subject: Judge in Jim Bell trial says media may not quote public
> documents
>
>
> ----- Forwarded message from Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com> -----
>
> From: Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com>
> Subject: Judge in Jim Bell trial says media may not quote
> public documents
> To: politech at politechbot.com
> Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2001 12:11:33 -0400
> X-URL: http://www.mccullagh.org/
> User-Agent: Mutt/1.2.2i
>
>
> 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.
>
>    [...]
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>