scholarly journals The First Amendment Right of Access to Docket Sheets

2006 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 1537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meliah Thomas
Keyword(s):  
First Amendment ◽  
Right Of Access

Information Is Power

2021 ◽  
pp. 230-245
Author(s):  
Mary-Rose Papandrea
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
First Amendment ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Government Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Press ◽  
Security Information ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
Government Secrecy ◽  
Right Of Access

Balancing the equally important but sometimes conflicting priorities of government transparency for public accountability versus government secrecy for national security seems intractable. One possibility is to recognize a constitutional right of access to government information. This would support democratic self-governance, allow the public to engage in meaningful oversight, and provide access to necessary information without the game of leaks. It could radically refocus arguments regarding the rights of government employees to reveal national security information and of third parties to publish it. Recognizing this right faces an uphill battle against decades of First Amendment jurisprudence. It also faces innumerable logistical and practical obstacles. It would not eliminate the need to determine when the public, the press, and government insiders can disclose national security information. Nevertheless, the ongoing collapse of press access norms and government’s increasing desire to operate outside public view may warrant dramatically rethinking First Amendment scope and protections.

scholarly journals Immaculate Defamation

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-614
Author(s):  
Alan M. Weinberger
Keyword(s):  
First Amendment ◽  
Right To Know ◽  
Free Press ◽  
Chilling Effect ◽  
Media Companies ◽  
Legitimate Interests ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
World Records

At the confluence of three major rivers, Madison County, Illinois, was also the intersection of the nation’s struggle for a free press and the right of access to appellate review in the historic case of the Alton Telegraph. The newspaper, which helps perpetuate the memory of Elijah Lovejoy, the first martyr to the cause of a free press, found itself on the losing side of the largest judgment for defamation in U.S. history as a result of a story that was never published in the paper—a case of immaculate defamation. Because it could not afford to post an appeal bond of that magnitude, one of the oldest family-owned newspapers in the country was forced to file for bankruptcy to protect its viability as a going concern. Attention must be paid to a case in which plaintiff’s counsel earns a place in the Guinness Book of World Records and his adversary is honored for distinction in the defense of a free press and the people’s right to know. Notwithstanding subsequent reform of the supersedeas bond process, the inability to appeal a defamation award for lack of sufficient resources to secure a bond still presents an existential threat to all but the largest media companies. The appeal bond process thus has a chilling effect on organizations engaged in newsgathering and dissemination, abridging freedoms protected by the First Amendment. This Article proposes a re-imagination of the appeal bond to accommodate the legitimate interests of the judgment creditor while protecting a media defendant’s constitutional right to appeal.

A First Amendment Right of Access to Affidavits in Support of Search Warrants

1990 ◽  
Vol 90 (8) ◽  
pp. 2216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn B. Oberlander
Keyword(s):  
First Amendment ◽  
Right Of Access
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