{"id":1504,"date":"2014-12-01T12:18:14","date_gmt":"2014-12-01T17:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=1504"},"modified":"2014-12-01T12:18:14","modified_gmt":"2014-12-01T17:18:14","slug":"news-outlets-move-to-overturn-gag-order-in-blankenship-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/?p=1504","title":{"rendered":"News Outlets Move to Overturn Gag Order in Blankenship Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of news organizations \u2014 the Charleston Gazette<\/em>, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal<\/em> \u2014 and Friends of West Virginia Public Broadcasting \u2014 have filed a motion to overturn<\/a> Judge Irene Berger\u2019s gag order in the criminal case against former Massey CEO Don Blankenship.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Donald Blannkenship<\/p><\/div>\n

The news organizations are being represented by Charleston attorney Sean McGinley.<\/p>\n

Judge Berger\u2019s gag order<\/a> sealed all prior and future filings and prohibited actual and alleged victims, their relatives and others \u2013 as well as trial participants and counsel, from saying anything or releasing any documents \u201cregarding the facts or substance of this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news organizations argue that Berger\u2019s gag order is \u201coverbroad\u201d and infringes on the news organizations\u2019 First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n

The news organizations argue that \u201cthere has been no showing that all speech about the facts or substance of the case,\u201d or that all court filings \u201cpose a sufficient threat of harm to a fair trial interest that justify the gag and sealing order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if Judge Berger were to find this case is one of those \u201crelatively rare\u201d cases in which there is sufficient proof of a prejudicial effect to a fair trial caused by news accounts, \u201cbefore mandating secrecy regarding this case, the Court must consider alternatives, including even a change of venue, that would protect the defendant\u2019s right to a fair trial without infringing on the (news organizations\u2019) constitutional and common law rights of access.\u201d<\/p>\n

The motion to overturn the gag order quotes a Sixth Circuit decision that reversed a similarly restrictive order. \u201cA more restrictive ban upon freedom of expression in the trial context would be difficult if not impossible to find,\u201d the Sixth Circuit ruled in CBS Inc. v Young<\/em> (1975).<\/p>\n

Berger\u2019s gag and sealing order was entered quickly, within 24 hours of the issuance of the indictment.<\/p>\n

The news organizations argue that \u201cthe gag order applies like a blanket covering all statements and documents that may have anything to do with the facts or substance of the case, and is not tailored to apply only to statements or documents specifically identified as being sufficiently prejudicial to defendant\u2019s right to a fair trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLikewise, the sealing order applies like a blanket shielding all filings regardless of their content, and regardless of whether the public access to a particular document, pleading or order is sufficiently prejudicial to defendant\u2019s right to a fair trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

The news organizations argue that \u201cin its application, the gag and sealing order is vague and applies to unspecified individuals \u2013 by designating all \u2018family members of victims\u2019 or \u2018alleged victims,\u2019 there is no way of knowing precisely to whom it applies (or why).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, does a family member include a first or second cousin?\u201d the motion asks.\u201cAnd the order does not identify who qualifies as an \u2018alleged victim\u2019 \u2013 it could be read to include both the victims of the Upper Big Branch tragedy who suffered death or physical injuries as well as alleged victims of the conduct related to the Securities and Exchange Commission charges, which may include all owners of Massey common stock.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of news organizations \u2014 the Charleston Gazette, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal \u2014 and Friends of West Virginia Public Broadcasting \u2014 have filed a motion to overturn Judge Irene Berger\u2019s gag order in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morgancountyusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}