Law Commons^™

Exposing Secret Searches: A First Amendment Right Of Access To Electronic Surveillance Orders, Hannah Bloch-Wehba

Faculty Scholarship

Although, as a rule, court proceedings and judicial records are presumptively open to the public, electronic surveillance documents are exceptions. Like ordinary search warrants, surveillance applications are considered ex parte. But court orders frequently remain sealed indefinitely, even when there is no basis for continued secrecy. Indeed, secrecy — in the form of gag orders, local judicial rules, and even clerical filing and docketing practices — is built into the laws that regulate electronic surveillance.

This Article argues that this widespread secrecy violates the First Amendment right of access to court proceedings and documents. The history of search and seizure …

"Fake News," No News, And The Needs Of Local Communities, Carol Pauli

Faculty Scholarship

The Quaker authors had in mind an ancient truth - that "love endures and overcomes" - and they were convinced that this truth is accessible to all. This article addresses truth at a more immediate and mundane level. It is concerned with the accurate information that local communities need in order to thrive.

The article proceeds in three steps. Part I reviews one way community needs were addressed when the first large-scale electronic communication technology entered individual homes in the form of radio and television. In those days, broadcasters had an affirmative duty to ascertain the problems of the communities …

When Should The First Amendment Protect Judges From Their Unethical Speech?, Lynne H. Rambo

Faculty Scholarship

Judges harm the judicial institution when they engage in inflammatory or overtly political extrajudicial speech. The judiciary can be effective only when it has the trust of the citizenry, and judicial statements of that sort render it impossible for citizens to see judges as neutral and contemplative arbiters. This lack of confidence would seem especially dangerous in times like these, when the citizenry is as polarized as it has ever been.

Ethical codes across the country (based on the Model Code of Judicial Conduct) prohibit judges from making these partisan, prejudicial or otherwise improper remarks. Any discipline can be undone, …

"Enemy Of The People": Negotiating News At The White House, Carol Pauli

Faculty Scholarship

How can the press serve as a check on executive power when the president calls it “fake” and the White House denies facts? As journalists debate the right response, this article offers advice from the perspective of a journalist who is now in the legal academy. Drawing on legal scholarship in the field of conflict resolution — as well as literature in journalism and political science — this article analyzes the White House press briefing as a negotiation over both the content of news and the relationship of the press and president. It aims to help the press fulfill the …