first_published_at,last_published_at,title,slug,latest_revision_created_at,charges,legal_orders,updates,categories,links,equipment_seized,equipment_broken,targeted_journalists,authors,date,exact_date_unknown,city,state,latitude,longitude,body,introduction,teaser,teaser_image,primary_video,image_caption,arrest_status,arresting_authority,release_date,detention_date,unnecessary_use_of_force,case_number,case_statuses,case_type,status_of_seized_equipment,is_search_warrant_obtained,actor,border_point,target_us_citizenship_status,denial_of_entry,stopped_previously,did_authorities_ask_for_device_access,did_authorities_ask_about_work,assailant,was_journalist_targeted,charged_under_espionage_act,subpoena_type,subpoena_statuses,name_of_business,third_party_business,legal_order_target,legal_order_type,legal_order_venue,status_of_prior_restraint,mistakenly_released_materials,type_of_denial,targeted_institutions,tags,target_nationality,workers_whose_communications_were_obtained,politicians_or_public_figures_involved 2023-11-01 18:09:18.890354+00:00,2024-02-29 17:20:41.283727+00:00,Alabama reporter faces felony charge for article on grand jury investigation,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/alabama-reporter-faces-felony-charge-for-article-on-grand-jury-investigation/,2024-02-29 17:20:41.176804+00:00,"publishing: revealing, disclosing or divulging grand jury information (charges pending as of 2023-10-27)",,(2023-10-30 13:02:00+00:00) Alabama reporter placed under prior restraint as condition of bail,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Prior Restraint",,,,Don Fletcher (Atmore News),,2023-10-27,False,Atmore,Alabama (AL),31.02379,-87.49387,"
Atmore News reporter Don Fletcher was arrested in Atmore, Alabama, on Oct. 27, 2023, and charged with a felony for his reporting on an ongoing grand jury investigation, the newspaper reported.
Fletcher authored an article on Oct. 25 concerning an Escambia County investigation into allegations of mismanagement of federal COVID relief funds by the county Board of Education. The article referenced statements made by District Attorney Steve Billy at an Oct. 12 school board meeting confirming that the superintendent would not be brought before a grand jury.
The article also reported that the outlet had obtained documents stating that Billy had issued a subpoena seeking copies of checks labeled as “COVID” payments or bonuses.
Atmore News reported on Facebook that both Fletcher and the newspaper’s publisher and co-owner Sherry Digmon were arrested on Oct. 27, charged with revealing, disclosing or divulging grand jury information, a felony, and released about six hours later after paying $10,000 bonds.
When reached by phone, Fletcher confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the two had an initial hearing on Oct. 30 but directed all further inquiries to their attorney, Earnest White. White declined to comment when reached on Oct. 31.
Veronica “Ashley” Fore, a bookkeeper for the county school system, was also arrested and is charged with providing grand jury information to the media, according to WALA-TV. It was not immediately clear how Fore obtained the information.
Neither District Attorney Billy nor the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded to requests for comment.
Atmore News reporter Don Fletcher and publisher Sherry Digmon were arrested on Oct. 27, 2023, and charged with felonies for reporting on an ongoing grand jury investigation in Escambia County, Alabama.
",arrested and released,Escambia County Sheriff’s Office,2023-10-27,2023-10-27,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,pending,False,[],,,,, 2023-11-01 18:17:04.716394+00:00,2024-02-29 17:20:58.675278+00:00,Alabama publisher charged over report on grand jury investigation,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/alabama-publisher-charged-over-report-on-grand-jury-investigation/,2024-02-29 17:20:58.568535+00:00,"publishing: revealing, disclosing or divulging grand jury information (charges pending as of 2023-10-27)",,(2023-10-30 13:04:00+00:00) Alabama publisher placed under prior restraint as condition of bail,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Prior Restraint",,,,Sherry Digmon (Atmore News),,2023-10-27,False,Atmore,Alabama (AL),31.02379,-87.49387,"Atmore News co-owner and publisher Sherry Digmon was arrested in Atmore, Alabama, on Oct. 27, 2023, and charged with a felony for publishing an article on an ongoing grand jury investigation, the newspaper reported.
A reporter for the paper, Don Fletcher, authored an article on Oct. 25 concerning an Escambia County investigation into allegations of mismanagement of federal COVID relief funds by the county Board of Education. The article referenced statements made by District Attorney Steve Billy at an Oct. 12 school board meeting confirming that the superintendent would not be brought before a grand jury.
The article also reported that the outlet had obtained documents stating that Billy had issued a subpoena seeking copies of checks labeled as “COVID” payments or bonuses.
Atmore News reported on Facebook that both Digmon and Fletcher were arrested on Oct. 27, charged with revealing, disclosing or divulging grand jury information, a felony, and released about six hours later after paying $10,000 bonds.
Fletcher, who took a call to the newsroom from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, confirmed that he and Digmon had an initial hearing on Oct. 30 but directed all further inquiries to their attorney, Earnest White. White declined to comment when reached on Oct. 31.
Veronica “Ashley” Fore, a bookkeeper for the county school system, was also arrested and is charged with providing grand jury information to the media, according to WALA-TV. It was not immediately clear how Fore obtained the information.
Neither District Attorney Billy nor the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office responded to requests for comment.
Atmore News reporter Don Fletcher and publisher Sherry Digmon were arrested on Oct. 27, 2023, and charged with felonies for reporting on an ongoing grand jury investigation in Escambia County, Alabama.
",arrested and released,Escambia County Sheriff’s Office,2023-10-27,2023-10-27,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,pending,False,[],,,,, 2023-11-30 20:30:54.001585+00:00,2023-11-30 20:30:54.001585+00:00,Media barred from identifying officer working DeSantis security,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/media-barred-from-identifying-officer-working-desantis-security/,2023-11-30 20:30:49.205351+00:00,,,,Prior Restraint,,,,Grant Stern (Occupy Democrats),,2023-08-30,False,Miami,Florida (FL),25.77427,-80.19366,"A Florida circuit court judge issued a prior restraint on Aug. 30, 2023, barring members of the press from publishing anything that might identify an officer who had provided security for Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The ruling was the result of a lawsuit brought by Grant Stern, the executive editor of the news arm of progressive political organization Occupy Democrats, after he and a columnist were barred by a plainclothes officer from attending the governor’s Sept. 22, 2022, press conference at Miami Dade College.
The officer, who refused to identify himself at the time, filmed the pair of journalists on a cellphone and ordered a uniformed officer to remove them from the building. Stern made an on-the-spot records request for a copy of the recording and ultimately filed a formal records request to identify the plainclothes officer.
The Miami Police Department refused to identify the officer, asserting that he was working undercover, as distinct from simply in civilian clothes, and was therefore exempt from such disclosures. Stern filed the lawsuit in October 2022 challenging the decision.
During a hearing on Aug. 30, 2023, Circuit Court Judge Migna Sanchez-Llorens told the parties she would reserve judgment on the distinction. Attorneys for the city then asked that — if the judge were to rule that the officer was working undercover — the images and videos filed as evidence in the suit be sealed, redacted or blurred out to protect his identity.
Sanchez-Llorens noted an objection raised by Stern’s attorney but heard no arguments before ruling that Stern’s photograph and any other identifiers of the officer would be placed under seal until she ruled on the question of his status.
The following day, the judge expanded the gag order to include all media and said that no one should disclose the identity of the officer. “This means that all persons shall refrain from releasing name, photos, or badge number of the undercover agent,” Sanchez-Llorens wrote.
“[The judge] did all of that without briefing, motion, nothing,” Stern told the Tracker. “They [city’s attorneys] merely suggested, just to get a sense of the court, if they could get a further order after the ruling. That’s all they asked for. She went ahead and did the rest.”
Stern told the Tracker that there is virtually no limit on how long the judge can reserve judgment, and that he and other media will remain gagged until she issues a ruling.
“This is two out of the three branches of Florida government now censoring this,” Stern said. “If the state doesn’t want you around they exercise every lever of government to prevent state officials from facing tough questions.”
Stern subsequently filed a motion asking the judge to recuse herself from the case, arguing that not only did she issue her order without following proper procedure but had also prejudged that the officer was working undercover, showing bias in the case. Sanchez-Llorens denied the motion, which Stern has since appealed to the Third District Court of Appeal of Florida.
A portion of the order, filed Aug. 31, 2023, ordering Occupy Democrats’ Executive Editor Grant Stern and all other media not to publish photos or other identifying information for a police officer who had worked security for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,pending,False,[],Media,,,, 2023-08-09 19:35:06.383819+00:00,2023-08-09 19:35:06.383819+00:00,"North Carolina judge seizes reporter’s notes, issues gag order",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/north-carolina-judge-seizes-reporters-notes-issues-gag-order/,2023-08-09 19:35:06.253332+00:00,,,,"Prior Restraint, Equipment Search or Seizure",,work product: count of 1,,Kenwyn Caranna (News & Record),,2023-07-28,False,Greensboro,North Carolina (NC),36.07264,-79.79198,"Kenwyn Caranna, a government reporter for the News & Record, was covering a juvenile court hearing on July 28, 2023, when a North Carolina judge seized her notes and told her she was under a gag order.
News & Record Executive Editor Dimon Kendrick-Holmes wrote that Caranna had been observing proceedings in the Greensboro courtroom most of the day, the only exception being a closed hearing when all observers were ordered to leave the courtroom.
District Court Judge Ashley Watlington-Simms reportedly asked Caranna to identify herself later in the day. When Caranna did so, the judge denied the reporter’s request to speak with an attorney and left the courtroom to consult with Chief District Court Judge Teresa Vincent.
When she returned, Watlington-Simms told Caranna she was under a gag order. The judge then directed bailiffs to seize Caranna’s notes from the day’s proceedings, telling the journalist she could appeal the decision on a later date.
Watlington-Simms entered a formal protective order on Aug. 2, which stated that the prior restraint was necessary to protect confidential information from the juvenile court cases, according to the News & Record. The order also sealed Caranna’s notes and barred her from disclosing information from the cases she observed.
The News & Record has requested a hearing to vacate the gag order as well as unseal and return Caranna’s notes.
When reached by email, Caranna directed the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to a newsletter about the ruling, but declined to comment further. The newsletter reported that a district trial court coordinator refused to release a copy of the protective order, stating that it is confidential.
A Missouri judge on May 23, 2023, barred the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and one of its reporters from publishing details from the mental health evaluation of a man set to stand trial for allegedly killing a police officer in 2020.
Post-Dispatch reporter Katie Kull obtained a copy of a mental health report on the defendant, Thomas J. Kinworthy Jr., when it was filed in St. Louis City Circuit Court on May 18. According to court filings reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, two copies of the report were filed by mistake, with one incorrectly made available to the public.
Kull contacted the public defender representing Kinworthy for comment on May 22, the Riverfront Times reported, and the attorney immediately filed a request for a temporary restraining order. The following day, Judge Elizabeth Hogan granted the order, barring Kull, the Post-Dispatch and any of its employees from publishing about the report.
In a tweet, Kull wrote, “I tried to write a story but instead I found myself under a court order.”
On May 23, the Post-Dispatch filed an initial response to the order, asking that it be dissolved and noting that the Supreme Court has consistently rejected such orders when the documents were legally obtained.
“This is true even when statutes prohibit dissemination of such information, as is the case here,” attorneys for the Post-Dispatch wrote. “It is also true when information is inadvertently released that should not have been released, which is the apparent situation here.”
Neither Kull nor the Post-Dispatch responded to requests for comment.
Freedom of the Press Foundation, which oversees the operation of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, condemned the prior restraint.
“On the rare occasion when the government has a legitimate basis to withhold records from the public, the onus is on the government, not the press, to ensure that they’re withheld,” Advocacy Director Seth Stern wrote. “That’s why the Court has held at least four times that once the government releases records to the press, even accidentally, it cannot claw them back or prohibit or punish their publication, regardless of how sensitive the records may be.”
The restraining order will remain in place as the case progresses, according to the Times, and the Post-Dispatch has until June 12 to submit motions in opposition.
A portion of the May 22, 2023, motion for a prior restraint on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and its reporter Katie Kull. A Missouri judge granted the order, barring the newspaper from publishing details from a mistakenly released mental health report.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,pending,True,[],St. Louis Post-Dispatch,,,,