Media Law: Limits on Newsgathering

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently removed animal inspection reports from its website, stating that it did so to protect the privacy of people and institutions. Emma Creekbaum analyzes Freedom of Information Act cases from the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals to determine how the court is resolving conflicts between individual’s privacy rights and the public’s interest in public disclosure of activity by government agencies such as the USDA. Cari Zahn explores restrictive orders, also known as gag orders, issued against the press in the District of Columbia within the last decade and identifies the circumstances under which the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has found such orders to be constitutional. Margaret Bukowski examines California’s anti-paparazzi laws and whether the state’s 2010 Assembly Bill 2479, which was designed to curtail reckless driving by paparazzi seeking to photograph celebrities, could survive a constitutional challenge in appeals court.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/2051/thumbnail.jp