November 6, 2008

POS 282--Introduction to American Law
In class today, Thursday 11/6, I collected the Zorn briefs, and we went over the Zorn case as well as the Karsetter case from the text. The assignment for Tuesday 11/11 is to read and prepare to discuss pp. 152-167 of the text.

CMJ 375--Mass Media Law
In class today, Thursday 11/6, I distributed two handouts; one was the Maine statutes regarding Freedom of Access, etc. and the other was the memo assignment (below) which is due next Thursday, 11/13. The assignment for Tuesday 11/11 is to start work on the memo, and to read and prepare to discuss pp. 228-248 of the text and the Reporter's Committee case on p. 130 of the casebook.


This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, November 13, 2008

Assume that you are a reporter for a very small, but locally influential Maine newspaper. The paper can not really afford to consult with an attorney, but one consideration by the newspaper in the decision to hire you was your assurance that you had taken a Mass Media Law class in college, and could pretty much figure out this law stuff on your own.

You have been assigned to research and write an investigative report regarding a long time teacher in the local school. He had taught for about 20 years, and he had died about five years ago. Only recently, though, have rumors started being passed around in town that the man in fact was a pedophile, who had abused numerous students over the years. The County District Attorney has investigated the rumors, and written a report on his investigation, but will not be prosecuting, because the teacher is dead. (Even though the teacher is dead though, there’s plenty of speculation that the School Board, or maybe the School Superintendent, or maybe the Principal of the school, knew or suspected, or should have suspected, the true nature of the teacher.) The District Attorney interviewed several of the alleged victims of the teacher, some of whom came forward to talk to the D.A. when they learned that there was an investigation (without any promise of confidentiality by the D.A.), and others whom the D.A. sought out once he had learned their names from other victims (and who agreed to talk only after the D.A. had sought them out and promised them confidentiality.)

Anyway, getting your hands on the report that the D.A. prepared would be great, You could expect that the circulation of your little paper would soar if you could get enough information to write up a good story.

Your editor has asked you to write her a memo detailing the chances of getting a copy of the D.A.’s report, in whole or in part. You have discovered one Maine case that seems especially on point, Blethen Maine Newspapers v. State of Maine, 2005 ME 56. (You can find the case by going to the Maine Supreme Court website--http://www.courts.state.me.us/opinions/supreme/index.html and selecting the 2005 cases, and then #56- this case.)

You should read the case carefully, including all four of the opinions in the case. Then write your memo to your editor, explaining the law to her, and specifically analyzing whether you would expect the same outcome as in the Blethen case, or whether it would be distinguishable, and why you reach the conclusion that you do. Be specific; use short quotations where appropriate, but just snippets-your editor has little patience for legalese; and write in good English (you are a reporter, after all). The memo should be about 2-3 pages long.

You may e-mail me if you have questions about the paper. The more time that I have to answer your questions, the more likely it is that I can be helpful.

If you cannot be in class on Thursday 11/13, you should still e-mail me your paper by the beginning of class time. If you do that, you will not have any grade deducted from your grade for the paper. If you do not, you should still contact me as soon as possible to see what options are available to you.

IMPORTANT: If you e-mail your paper to me, I will reply to confirm that I have received your assignment. If I do not reply, then I have not received the assignment.