Courts

The Va. Supreme Court upheld a Virginia law punishing anyone who divulged information about the proceedings of the Virginia Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission. The defendant newspaper, after identifying a judge whose conduct was being investigated by the Commission, was convicted and fined for violating the law. The Court said the law was constitutional because freedom of the press is not absolute and the Commission could not function without confidentiality. NOTE: The U.S. Supreme Court overturned this case in Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia, 435 U.S. 829 (1978), ruling that the publication served the interests of public scrutiny and discussion of governmental affairs that the First Amendment was adopted to protect. Neither the state's interest in protecting the reputation of its judges, nor its interest in maintaining the institutional integrity of its courts, was sufficient to justify the subsequent punishment of speech.

An injunction is not justified where there is not a reasonable probability that violations of FOIA will occur again.

Charlottesville Newspapers Inc. v. Berry, 206 S.E.2d 267, 215 Va. 116 (6/19/1974)

Virginia Supreme Court

CHARLOTTESVILLE NEWSPAPERS, INC., DOUGLAS PARDUE, AND BENJAMIN F. CRITZER

v.

DAVID F. BERRY, JUDGE OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF ALBEMARLE COUNTY

Upon a Petition for a Writ of Prohibition and Mandamus.

John C. Lowe (Edward L. Hogshire; Lowe & Gordon, on brief), for petitioners.

James E. Kulp, Assistant Attorney General (Andrew P. Miller, Attorney General, on brief), for respondent.

Brown was convicted of a murder in an auto parts junkyard. A newspaper article published on the day after the killing quoted a "spokesman" for the sheriff's department who gave a different version of the facts than the prosecution later presented in court. Brown wanted to make the reporter give up the identity of that confidential source, but the trial court refused to do so. Here, the Court affirmed that decision, ruling that a journalist’s promise of confidentiality should yield only when a defendant’s need is essential to a fair trial. In this case, the Court ruled, the confidential statements would not have affected Brown’s conviction or the severity of his sentence.

SUPREME COURT OF VIRGINIA

Archer v. Mayes

Record No. 8110

194 S.E.2d 707, 213 Va. 633

March 5, 1973

GRACE ARCHER AND JAMES JOHNSON v. D. CARLETON MAYES, JUDGE OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF AMELIA COUNTY; S. L. FARRAR, JR., CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF AMELIA COUNTY; JOHN L. SMITH, JAMES E. FORD AND GRAHAM W. THOMPSON, JURY COMMISSIONERS OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF AMELIA COUNTY

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT

Appeal from an order of the Circuit Court of Amelia County. Hon. William M. Sweeney, judge designate presiding.

Sanders, a professor at Virginia Western Community College, sued after a newspaper wrongly reported that she improperly withheld documents from her department head. Her employment contract with the university was not renewed after the article appeared, and she was unable to obtain another position with a university. The Court affirmed a circuit court’s ruling in favor of the defendants, the publisher and the source for the article, because Sanders had not proved actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth. That standard applies when published statements relate to matters of public or general concern, because they are protected by the First Amendment and subject to qualified privilege.