A Yolo County dentist, on trial on charges of sexual battery with his patients, has dropped his attempt to exclude the press from the courtroom. The dentist’s lawyer, Michael Rothschild, says he was persuaded the requested closure would violate the First Amendment. An interesting aspect of this case is that the prosecutor, siding with a media lawyer representing the Sacramento Bee, opposed the court-closing idea. All too often prosecutors, concerned about avoiding jury prejudice, acquiesce

The organizations behind Prop 8, the successful ballot initiative banning gay marriage in California, have filed suit in federal court to challenge campaign finance laws that require disclosure of contributors and the amount of their contributions. The groups contend that their coerced identification (“outing”) infringes their First Amendment rights. You can read the text of the lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Sacramento, on this page of Justin McLachlan’s blog. You have to scroll

Many news organizations’ websites encourage readers to post comments. Should persons who post anonymously receive the benefit of state “Shield Laws” designed to protect journalists’ confidential sources? Several courts have now addressed this issue, which arises when a poster’s comment triggers a lawsuit (alleging defamation by the poster, for example) and the plaintiff in the suit, using court process, requests the poster’s identity from the news organization. Some news organizations, resisting the requests, have responded

Under a 1978 law, records of the President and Vice President are the property of the federal government and must be turned over to the National Archive. But who decides if a given record concerns the business of government, and is therefore property of the National Archive, or is a private or personal record, and therefore belongs to the office-holder? According to Vice President Dick Cheney, he and the President are the final deciders. This

Phoenix police will begin withholding names of injured victims, birth dates of arrestees, and addresses of crime scenes in what they say is an attempt to thwart identify theft, the Arizona Republic reports. Assistant City Attorney Sandra Hunter says she knows of no lawsuits or complaints suggesting that the release of public information has led to ID theft. The move, she said, is preventative. — DR Police aim to curb ID theft by withholding report