Journalists becoming targets of rights suits

Article Abstract:

Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 was passed to protect citizens from government action taken to deprive them of constitutionally-guaranteed rights and some plaintiffs are trying to use it to sue journalists, claiming that the journalists have worked with the government to deprive them of rights. ABC reporter Wayne Satz, The Morning Call of Allentown, PA, Geraldo Rivera, and the St. Joseph News-Press/Gazette have all been sued under the section, but most of these cases have not been sustained in court.

Civil rights, Journalists

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High court upholds dismissal of suit over 'grave robber' story: man had been convicted of trafficking in archaeological resources from burial ground

Article Abstract:

The Nevada Supreme Court dismissed a libel suit brought by a man who had been convicted of illegally removing Native American artifacts from public land. A newspaper referred to the man as a "grave robber." The newspaper had taken the characterization from a press release from the Bureau of Land Management, which noted the man had removed the artifacts from Native American burial grounds. The Court ruled the newspaper had accurately relied on the press release.

Nevada, Archaeology and state, Public archaeology, Looting

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