Publication ban
Encyclopedia
A publication ban is a court order which prohibits the public or media from disseminating certain details of an otherwise public judicial procedure. In Canada
, publication bans are most commonly issued when the safety or reputation of a victim or witness may be hindered by having their identity openly broadcast in the press. They are also commonly issued when the crime involves minors or is sexual in nature.
In Canada, the role of publication bans came under intense scrutiny in April, 2005 when Justice Gomery
issued a publication ban on the testimony of three key witnesses at the Gomery Inquiry in the sponsorship scandal
. The ban was granted at the request of the lawyers for the Jean Brault, Paul Coffin
and Chuck Guite who argued intense media coverage would bias potential jurors for their upcoming criminal trials. Shortly after the ban was issued, however, an editorialized summary of Brault's testimony was posted on an American
blog
ger's website where it was immediately accessible and well known to Canadians interested in the story. Also, somewhat strangely, the inquiry remained public to anyone willing to venture to where the proceedings were being held; thus, the opposition parties were aware of what was being revealed at the inquiry, even while their respective leaders were kept intentionally unaware to prevent them from accidentally violating the ban at a press conference. Justice Gomery later lifted the ban on most of the testimony.
In January 2005, author Stephen Williams was sentenced for violating the publication ban by including forbidden details in his two books on Paul Bernardo
and Karla Homolka
, making him only the second person sentenced for violating the publication ban—the first being one of the "Electronic ban breakers". Stephen Williams reached a plea agreement with the Canadian authorities in which he agreed that he would no longer use "any materials belonging to the Crown" as part of his writings.
A more recent case, in December 2010
, was the case of the murder of Victoria Stafford
, due to the victim being a minor
.
newspaper from releasing information regarding a memo which is alleged to have been an official transcript of a conversation between U.S. President George W. Bush
and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
, which in the context of the planning for the 2003 invasion of Iraq
, regarded a plan to bomb
selected offices of the Arabic language Al Jazeera
television news station.
stated that the First Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution "ensures that the media enjoy great latitude in the coverage of criminal investigations and trials."
A notable legal dispute between the governments attempt to censor newspapers occurred in the context of the Watergate Scandal
during the early 1970s. The Richard Nixon
administration attempted to block the New York Times
and the Washington Post from publishing information contained in the Pentagon Papers
. The matter was resolved after a two-week delay by the United States Supreme Court in the New York Times Co. v. United States
case, wherein the Court ruled that the publication ban was a violation of the First Amendment
right to free speech.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, publication bans are most commonly issued when the safety or reputation of a victim or witness may be hindered by having their identity openly broadcast in the press. They are also commonly issued when the crime involves minors or is sexual in nature.
In Canada
In Canada a judge can issue a publication ban to protect the identity of a victim or a witness, and by law judges are required to issue bans to protect identities of victims of sexual assaults and witnesses to sexual assaults who are less than 18 years of age.In Canada, the role of publication bans came under intense scrutiny in April, 2005 when Justice Gomery
John Gomery
John H. Gomery, BCL, BA, QC is a retired Canadian jurist. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Personal life:Gomery has a daughter, Cym Gomery, who is a partisan and candidate of municipal party Projet Montreal. Gomery is fluently bilingual, as is his daughter...
issued a publication ban on the testimony of three key witnesses at the Gomery Inquiry in the sponsorship scandal
Sponsorship scandal
The sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship" or Sponsorgate, is a scandal that came as a result of a Canadian federal government "sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec and involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006...
. The ban was granted at the request of the lawyers for the Jean Brault, Paul Coffin
Paul Coffin
Paul Coffin is a Canadian businessman who pleaded guilty to 15 counts of fraud in connection with the sponsorship scandal involving the Liberal Party of Canada in May 2005. As head of Communication Coffin, an advertising agency based in Montreal, Quebec, Coffin was contracted by Public Works...
and Chuck Guite who argued intense media coverage would bias potential jurors for their upcoming criminal trials. Shortly after the ban was issued, however, an editorialized summary of Brault's testimony was posted on an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger's website where it was immediately accessible and well known to Canadians interested in the story. Also, somewhat strangely, the inquiry remained public to anyone willing to venture to where the proceedings were being held; thus, the opposition parties were aware of what was being revealed at the inquiry, even while their respective leaders were kept intentionally unaware to prevent them from accidentally violating the ban at a press conference. Justice Gomery later lifted the ban on most of the testimony.
In January 2005, author Stephen Williams was sentenced for violating the publication ban by including forbidden details in his two books on Paul Bernardo
Paul Bernardo
Paul Kenneth Bernardo, also known as Paul Jason Teale , is a Canadian serial killer and rapist, known for the sexual assaults and murders he committed with his wife Karla Homolka and the serial rapes he committed in Scarborough.-Early life:Bernardo's mother, Marilyn, was the adopted daughter of a...
and Karla Homolka
Karla Homolka
Karla Leanne Homolka, also known as Karla Leanne Teale , is a Canadian serial killer. She attracted worldwide media attention when she was convicted of manslaughter following a plea bargain in the 1991 and 1992 rape-murders of two Ontario teenage girls, Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, as well as...
, making him only the second person sentenced for violating the publication ban—the first being one of the "Electronic ban breakers". Stephen Williams reached a plea agreement with the Canadian authorities in which he agreed that he would no longer use "any materials belonging to the Crown" as part of his writings.
A more recent case, in December 2010
December 2010
December 2010 was the twelfth month of that year. It began on a Wednesday and ended after 31 days on a Friday.-Portal:Current events:This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from December 2010....
, was the case of the murder of Victoria Stafford
Murder of Victoria Stafford
Victoria Elizabeth "Tori" Stafford was an eight year old Canadian girl abducted from Woodstock, Ontario on April 8, 2009, and murdered. She was last seen on security camera footage walking with Terri-Lynne McClintic....
, due to the victim being a minor
Minor
Minor means "not important", and in Latin "smaller". It may also refer to:* an underage child, see Minor * Academic minor, a secondary focus of a Bachelor's degree, the primary focus being an academic major-Mathematics:...
.
In the UK
A publication ban was issued forbidding any United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
newspaper from releasing information regarding a memo which is alleged to have been an official transcript of a conversation between U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, which in the context of the planning for the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, regarded a plan to bomb
Al Jazeera bombing memo
The Al Jazeera bombing memo is an unpublished memorandum made within the British government which purports to be the minutes of a discussion between United States President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair. The Daily Mirror published a story on its front page on 22 November 2005...
selected offices of the Arabic language Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
television news station.
In the US
Brian Cathcart of The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
stated that the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
to the U.S. Constitution "ensures that the media enjoy great latitude in the coverage of criminal investigations and trials."
A notable legal dispute between the governments attempt to censor newspapers occurred in the context of the Watergate Scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
during the early 1970s. The Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
administration attempted to block the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and the Washington Post from publishing information contained in the Pentagon Papers
Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers, officially titled United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967...
. The matter was resolved after a two-week delay by the United States Supreme Court in the New York Times Co. v. United States
New York Times Co. v. United States
New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 , was a United States Supreme Court per curiam decision. The ruling made it possible for the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censure.President Richard Nixon had...
case, wherein the Court ruled that the publication ban was a violation of the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
right to free speech.
See also
- Karla Homolka case publication ban
- Sponsorship scandalSponsorship scandalThe sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship" or Sponsorgate, is a scandal that came as a result of a Canadian federal government "sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec and involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006...
, Jean Brault - Dave Hilton, Jr.Dave Hilton, Jr.Dave Hilton, Jr. is a former boxing world champion. He is a member of the Fighting Hilton Family and is the former brother-in-law of Arturo Gatti...
- D-Notice
External links
- Bowman, John and Justin Thompson. "Publication bans: What the media can't say." - CBCCBC.caCBC.ca is the English-language online service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was introduced in 1996. Under its previous names, the CBC's online service first went live in 1993....
- Updated November 7, 2003