Court dismisses emotional distress suit

Article Abstract:

The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in Upchurch v. New York Times Co that an article speculating that cocaine was implicated in the death of a Spartanburg, SC, policeman did not inflict emotional distress on his family since the article did not specifically target them. The court felt that the newspaper article dealt with a matter of public concern and was therefore protected by the First Amendment. The court did rule the newspaper's reliance on the substantial truth defense to have been erroneous since this defense applies to libel not mental distress actions.

Mental distress (Law)

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Court upholds charge for taking inmate note

Article Abstract:

A Florida District Appeals court has upheld as constitutional a jail security rule prohibiting reporters from receiving any written communication from prisoners. The reporter sued for refusing to turn over the note she received from a prisoner argued that the rule was vague, and that the note was no different than a prisoner's mail. The court disagreed, stating that the meaning of the rule was clear and that the Constitution did not give reporters any more right of access to prisoners than the general public.

Laws, regulations and rules, Prison discipline

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FCC ordered to review charge of CBS news distortion

Article Abstract:

The US Court of Appeals in Washington DC ordered the FCC to review an individual's charge that the CBS "Sixty Minutes" show unfairly portrayed people living in the Ukraine to be prejudiced against Jews. A petition filed with the FCC was rejected because the FCC claimed it only investigates significant news distortions that are adequately supported by extrinsic evidence. The appellate panel stated the FCC did not apply the correct standard in rejecting the appeal and must rehear the case.

United States, United States. Federal Communications Commission, Investigations, Broadcast journalism

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