Why the Portland Press Herald Defied a Court Order Barring Press Coverage
Feb 05 2015
By Scott Dolan
At first I was confused when Judge Jeffrey Moskowitz issued his order banning news reporters from reporting anything witnesses said in the criminal case against a well-known Maine attorney.
But the judge said it again when I stood in the courtroom and asked him to clarify. Did he mean to restrict the use of cameras? Or did he mean to restrict me as a staff writer for the Portland Press Herald and a member of the public?
Im prohibiting you, by order, from reporting any of the information presented by any witness other than the lawyers, Moskowitz said to me, according to the official transcript of the Jan. 5 court hearing in a state court in Portland.
The judge added that reporters were also banned from reporting anything said by the defendant, attorney Anthony Sineni III, who was there taking a plea deal to reduce felonies to misdemeanor charges of assault and disorderly conduct.
http://nefirstamendment.org/portland-press-herald-defied-court-order-barring-press-coverage/
Dolan won a press award for his defiance:
Scott Dolan stares down a judge, walks away with victory for journalism
March 16, 2015
By Christopher Cousins
Scott Dolan, the Portland Press Herald court reporter who won the Maine Freedom of Information Coalitions Sunshine Award Tuesday, has guts of steel.
Dolan won the prestigious award for standing and challenging a judge in open court on January 6 when the judge said reporters couldnt report on parts of a trial. Dolan wrote the story anyway and after two days of uproar, Judge Jeffrey Moskowitz apologized.
Judges arent used to being challenged. Standing up to one in open court is, in that moment, a risk with unclear consequences (not that Ive ever done it). Could Dolan have gone to jail? He wrote in a February 5 column for the New England First Amendment Coalition that he had a friend watch his dogs, just in case.
Scott Dolan is not only a borne-on-convictions, tough-as-nails, judge-challenging First Amendment defender. He is also, apparently, a very responsible pet owner.
http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2015/03/16/reporter-scott-dolan-stares-down-a-judge-walks-away-with-victory-for-journalism/