Judicial administrations in Oregon and Idaho are blocking public access to electronic court records at the time of receipt in spite of a Ninth Circuit decision for access under the First Amendment. (Courthouse News Service, August 31, 2021, by Bill Girdner) For related FAC coverage, click here, here and here.
A federal district judge granted Miyoko’s Creamery an injunction against California’s attempt to disallow Miyoko’s use of “butter,” “lactose free” and “cruelty free” on its vegan products. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) said that since vegan butter was not made from milk or cream it was not butter under federal law. Given that it was not dairy, they could not claim “lactose free” or “cruelty free.” (The National Law Review, August 27,
The leading U.S. newspapers lost a whopping 20 percent of their daily subscriptions during the pandemic. USA Today led the decline with the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times also suffering significant losses. (Poynter, August 31, 2021, by Rick Edmonds) The pandemic has also led to the shut down of over 85 local newspapers. Most of the affected are weeklies in small communities, in most cases, the only source of news about the actions
Freelance journalist Shawn Musgrave cited a “common law right of access” to legislative records in seeking videos of the January 6 insurrection. Congressional records are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). If successful, the lawsuit could bring greater transparency to Congress. (The Hill, August 18, 2021, by Harper Neidig) Congress has long exempted itself in passing open records laws, but Musgrave found a foothold in a D.C. Circuit ruling that cited a “common
A Washington state appeals court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that Fox News undermined public heath by calling Covid-19 a hoax. Chief judge Bath Andrus wrote that First Amendment protections outweighed the State’s interest in spreading accurate and truthful information concerning public health. (Times of San Diego, August 30, 2021, by Ken Stone) The plaintiff, the Washington League for Increased Transparency and Ethics, said the First Amendment was not intended to shield the