Court Overturns Order Blocking Newspaper From Printing Murder Suspect’s Photo

[n2doc]

By David Kravets August 20, 2010 | 4:27 pm |

A California appeals court has overturned a Los Angeles judge’s order that prohibited the Los Angeles Times from publishing a photo of a quadruple murder defendant.

“We conclude the superior court’s order precluding publication of photographs lawfully taken unconstitutionally violates the prohibition against prior restraint of speech,” (.pdf) the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles ruled Thursday in a First Amendment challenge brought by the newspaper.

The constitutional flap began three weeks ago, when Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Hilleri Merritt ordered the Times not to publish photos of defendant Alberd Tersargyan after previously granting the paper the go-ahead to snap pictures during a pretrial proceeding.

The case threatened a dangerous First Amendment precedent. The U.S. Supreme Court has never tolerated prior restraint, even in the 1971 “Pentagon Papers” case. Then, the justices refused to block The New York Times from publishing sensitive documents concerning the nation’s involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967.



Read More http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/08/prior-restraint-reversed/

[slackmaster]

1. The courts have consistently ruled against prior restraint.