Term
| Among options available to courts (judges) to limit any prejudicial effect of pretrial reporting is/are: |
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Definition
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| Which of the following is most likely to be the basis for claiming an impartial jury cannot be chosen? |
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Definition
| Publishing a list of the defendant's previous convictions. |
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Term
| Bob lived in the same apartment complex with a suspect accused of burglary is facing trial. Bob is called for jury duty. Is he eligible to serve? |
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Definition
| Yes, if he is able to decide guilt or innocence based solely on what he hears and sees in the courtroom. |
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Term
| Judge Bob's court is in a town "up in arms" over the death of a child hit and killed by a driver police said was intoxicated. Judge Bob wants to assure the defendant a fair trial as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, so Judge Bob issues an order that the police, prosecutors, witnesses, the family of the child are not to talk about the case with anyone and also orders the local media not to print or broadcast another word about the case. How would you analyze this? |
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Definition
| The order to trial participants is likely constitutional, but the order to the media appears to be an unconstitutional prior restraint. |
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Term
| Bobette takes her twins to the city's new play area. She can't help noticing the swings and other equipment are poorly made and that there are hazard such as sharp edges and protruding bolts and nails. She goes to City Hall and fills out the required form to see the minutes approving purchase of the equipment and the bills from the playground contractor. The clerk looks at the form and says, "Sorry you can't see these documents." What's wrong here? |
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Definition
| Denials must be in writing. |
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Term
| When an open records request is made, a response is required: |
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Definition
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Term
| City sanitation workers want to meet with the members of the City Council to discuss overtime pay. Is this a personnel matter under Mississippi's Open Meetings Act? |
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Definition
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Term
| You work in the marketing department of a cancy company. The CEO comes to you and says, "Hey, you're a 'digital native.' Use your skills on the Internet to find out what kinds of toys cancy want for Easter." You consider several options, but you remember: |
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Definition
| Harvesting marketing information from children under 13 is a violation of federal law. |
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Term
Bob covered the robbery trial of Chris for The Washington Times. His story included a direct quote from the clerk on duty, Lucy, who pointed to the defendant, Chris, and said, "That's him. He's the guy who robbed our store. I never forget a face." As things turned out, Chris had an identical twin brother. He had really robbed the store. People still eyed Chris suspiciously, though, which angered him. He felt The Washington Post and others had defamed him by printing as fact Lucy's completely false statement. He calls you about this and you console him. You say:
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Definition
| I know you are angry, but the media has a qualified privilege to accurately report trial testimony, even if it turns out to be false and defamatory. |
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Term
| Under Mississippi law, "records" are: |
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Definition
Information created in the course of conducting public business, regardless of form or format. |
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Term
For weeks, the community has been buzzing about the upcoming discussion and vote on whether to build a new city pool. Bob has a Town Talk blog and posts, "I know a lot of you are really interested in the pool matter, but the meeting room will not hold many people. I will be live-streaming with my smart phone, though, so you will be able to watch the whole thing on my website." The city's attorney sees this and calls Bob, saying, "Sorry Bob, but we are not going to allow cameras." Bob has taken media law, so he directs the attorney's attention to Mississippi law, which says:
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Definition
| Photography is allowed in any public meeting, so long as it is not intrusive |
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Term
Which of the following is NOT subject to the Mississippi Open Meetings Act?
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Definition
| Public and private hospital boards. |
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Term
| The Mississippi entity that has primary oversight of open records and open meetings questions and challenges is: |
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Definition
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Term
In any open records or open meetings situation, a key question is:
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Definition
| Does nondisclosure serve a public interest? |
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Term
A major problem with shield laws for journalists is:
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Definition
| The difficulty of defining 'journalist.' |
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Term
| Under Mississippi's open records law, public records may be viewed by: |
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Definition
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Term
| Which of the following is/are true about FERPA? |
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Definition
A.
Educators and adminstrators are not held personally liable for a FERPA violation.
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B.
Students, if they are not minors, must be offered an opt-out from release of directory information.
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C.
The provisions of FERPA do not extend to law enforcement records of people who happen to be students.
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Term
People tend to think of media employees as having special legal rights because:
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Definition
| They are catered to in sports and entertainment events in exchange for reporting that benefits such events. |
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Term
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Bob, a reporter, shows up at a presidential press conference. The president sees him and calls him out. "Hey, Bob," the president says, "your newspaper had an editorial Sunday calling for me to be impeached. Since you don't think I should be president, I don't think you should be here." The Secret Service escorts Bob out. Anything wrong with this?
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Definition
| Yes. This appears to be selective exclusion at an open event, which would be unconstitutional. |
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Term
Bob, a reporter, happens to see a utility worker fall from a pole across the street from a hospital and watches as the worker is rushed into the Emergency Room. Later, Bob calls the utility company and is told the name of the injured worker. He then calls the hospital and asks for an injury report on the worker. "Sorry," he is told, "we have no record of a patient by that name." Bob knows what he saw, but from these facts he can conclude:
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Definition
| The worker has invoked his HIPAA rights. |
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Term
| Marsha, a reporter for WTVA-TV does a lot of her stand-ups outside the Governor's Mansion. She notices, over time, that there is often a Chick-fil-A delivery van parked near the kitchen entrance and wonders how much business Chick-fil-A does with the governor's office. Which of the following is true under Mississippi's open records act? |
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Definition
| Marsha would be entitled to this information via a request to the governor's office, but not through a request to Chick-fil-A. |
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Term
| There is a very flattering story about Bob, the new high school baseball coach, in the Daily News, including the online edition. Below the story a comment appears from fozzybear14. The comment reads, "Bob has y'all fooled. He served 10 years in prison for stealing concession stand money at his last high school." This is not true. Bob is furious and wants to sue, but has no idea who "fozzybear14" is. How can he find out? |
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Definition
Have a judge apply the Dendrite test to decide whether the Daily News will be required to disclose whatever identifying information it has about fozzybear14. |
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Term
In criminal trials jurors must swear to decide guilt or innocence based on:
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Definition
What they see and hear in the courtroom during the trial.
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Term
| Matthew was a reporter who frequently covered education topics. When police, based on a search warrant, discovered vast amounts of illegal child pornography downloaded onto his computer, Matthew said he had gathered the files for a story he was researching. Based on what you know about the First Amendment and your media law class, what is the likely result? |
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Definition
| Journalists have the same rights as any other person, no more and no less. Matthew is not exempt from child porn laws. |
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Term
| Tenets of the Branzburg test for requiring a journalist to testify include: |
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Definition
A.
The information is relevant to the case.
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B.
The information goes to the heart of the case.
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C.
There is no other source for the information that does not infringe on the First Amendment.
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