CH 9 Gathering Information 3 Sources of Law Concerning Access to Government Information Common Law limited strict limitations Must have interest in the record Only records required to be kept are subject to disclosure Constitutional Law First Amendment Statutory Law State Federal Freedom of Information Act 1966 Public records or Sunshine Laws Freedom of Information Act FOIA Broadness depends on how the government interprets it Recap the rules Only applies to federal agencies Must be a record including electronic records State Public Laws Vary from state to state General Principles Doesn t matter why you want it or who you are Applies to records kept by state agencies Applies to all emails of government employees at these agencies Various exemptions classified info trade secrets department preliminary papers Florida s Public Records Laws Florida is one of the 1st states to enact law Source FL constitution FL Statutes Major Problem Once given to government document becomes public record FSU NCAA CASE CH11 Free Press Fair Trial Stories that endanger the right to a fair trial Stories about confessions People put a lot of stock into these Timothy McVeigh Oklahoma City Bombing PBS Interview Polygraph results Past criminal history Stories about questioning the credibility of players in a trial Stories about defendant s character personality or friends Stories that tend to inflame the public against the defendant Stories that suggest or imply the defendant s guilt skewed perspective Casey Anthony Trayvon Martin Impartial Jurors Must be free of deep impressions beliefs that will not yield to the evidence that is presented during the trial U S v Burr 1807 Jurors need not be totally ignorant of the facts issues Murphy v Fla 1975 The question is whether or not jurors can put aside any bias impartially judge guilt innocence Court will permit a juror who possesses knowledge or opinions on a case as long as 1 The knowledge opinions are not so strongly held that they can not reasonably be put aside to face evidence 2 The publicity surrounding the case is not so widespread prejudicial as to render a potential juror s assurances of impartiality as unbelievable What judges do to limit pretrial publicity ensure fair trial 1 Voir dire The process by which the lawyers judge question the potential jurors about their feelings biases opinions about the case a Challenges for cause Attorney sees bias in answers b Peremptory Challenges no reason given limited number per trial can not be racist 2 Change of Venue Costly not always beneficial 3 Continuance not often 4 Admonition to jury Direct jurors to be impartial no news 5 Sequestration Holding jurors from outside world rare Restrictive Gag Orders Orders that are aimed directly at the press limiting what can be published or broadcast Orders that are aimed at the participants in the trial limiting what they can tell the public reporters about pending trial matters Chief Justice Burger s Test Nebraska Press Association Test A restrictive order could be constitutionally justified if 3 conditions are met Intense pervasive publicity concerning the case is certain 1 2 No other alternative measure might mitigate the effects of the pretrial publicity 3 The restrictive order will in fact effectively prevent prejudicial material from reaching potential jurors CH 13 Obscenity A narrow class of material defined by the Supreme Court in the Miller Test Material that is obscene is not protected by the First Amendment Obscene material is sometimes referred to as hard core pornography First Amendment issue Sexually explicit material Adult video industry more than 12 billion a year Controversial First Amendment No legal definition for pornography Protects sexually explicit material but NOT obscenity or child pornography Even sexually explicit material that is not obscene can be regulated in many ways Variable obscenity statutes Zoning regulations Definition of Obscenity Miller v California 1973 Miller Test meets test obscene no First Amendment protection 1 An average person applying contemporary local community standards finds that the work taken as a whole appeals to prurient interest Prurient Interest Shameful or morbid interest in nudity sex or excretion Local Standards State standards 2 The work depicts in a patently offensive way a sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law 3 The work in question lacks a serious literary artistic political or scientific value Definition of Child Pornography Images of minors under 18 engaged in sexually explicit conduct Distinguished with Miller Test If an image involves a minor meets the test it does not matter what the community standard is Child Porn Prevention Act unconstitutional They only appear to be minors not actually minors Prosecutional Remedies Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today PROTECT Act Knowingly soliciting materials involving minors or belief of minors Regulation of Obscene Material Historically criminal prosecutions State must demonstrate that the material is obscene under Miller Test State must demonstrate scienter guilty knowledge State can also use Civil Nuisance Laws RICO Laws Racketeering Influence Corrupt Organizations Act Postal Censorship Most diligent mail regulation people can request block COMSTOCK Act Film Censorship Regulation of Non Obscene Erotic Material Sexually Oriented Businesses Zoning Regulations Designed to reduce aftereffects constitutional Expressive Conduct Regulations intermediate scrutiny EX minimal clothing dancer proximity minimal lighting etc Erotic Materials on the Internet The Communications Decency Act Unconstitutional Child Online Protection Act Commercial sites knowingly broadcasting harmful material to minors too vague struck down Children s Internet Protection Act CH 14 Patents Copyrights Trademarks Background Patent copyright protection are derived from the U S Constitution Article 1 Section 8 To promote the progress of science useful arts by securing for limited times to authors inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings discoveries Patents U S Patents Trademark Office USPTO Utility Patents Once you invent something immediately file for a patent Patents do not protect ideas you have to create the investment be able to explain the process for building it If granted the patent owner has a 20 year monopoly on that invention Copyright Original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression 1 Literary Works 2 Musical
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