On November 22, the Alliance signed onto a brief, filed in the Supreme Court of New York, Westchester County, arguing that the court should not issue any prior restraints on a news publisher. In Project Veritas v. New York Times, the Times published a story that included excerpts of memoranda prepared by a Project Veritas attorney. Project Veritas requested that the Times be barred from publishing any other “privileged materials” in its possession. The court granted the request, ordering the Times to “refrain from further disseminating or publishing any of Project Veritas’ ‘privileged materials,’” at least until a court hearing on Nov. 23. The Appellate Division denied the Times’ appeal. The brief, filed by RCFP, argues that the prior restraint is a gross First Amendment violation and points out there has been no prior restraint entered against the Times since the Pentagon Papers, which the Supreme Court struck down. The issuance of a prior restraint is a stark First Amendment violation and imposes grave threats to press freedom. The Alliance continues to monitor this case and advocate for a robust free press, operating without archaic prior restraints on speech. Read more.
Members of the News/Media Alliance staff have contributed to this post.
