Hiya Law!
Attached is Test #2 on Libel, Access and Copyright. Please return your numbered responses (1-28) to me by 1 p.m. Friday. Do not return the test itself.
In my email yesterday, I outlined how we’ll move through the rest of the semester. (Remember: all emails are posted on the WordPress page.) I’ll email you at 1 p.m. T/Th with Privacy outlines, some video, some in-class work, etc.
I’m looking forward to our last few weeks together and hope you are too!
Hiya Law,
I’d planned to wait until after tomorrow’s test to outline the rest of the semester, but I know some of you have questions, so I’m sending this email now. And it’s not even 1 p.m. on a T/Th!
Look at your syllabus/readings on the WordPress page: https://journalismandlaw.wordpress.com
You’ll see we have four weeks of material left to cover:
Week 10 (March 31): Privacy
Week 11 (April 7): Privacy II
Week 12 (April 14): Courts/Protection of Sources
Week 13 (April 21): Courts/Free Press-Fair Trial and Gag Orders
Week 14 (April 29): Test #3
Each T/Th at 1 p.m., I’ll send you an outline of the day’s material, just as I’ve done when we meet in class. You should plan to have done the related reading linked on the WordPress page by the first of each week. Some days, I’ll include a video to watch. Some days, we’ll have “in-class” assignments to work on, which will be due by 10 p.m. the same day. For these, I encourage you to work with the same teams you’ve been working with in class. You can talk together, then email the assignment to me, copying everyone’s email so I can return feedback. Or you can do them on your own.
In other words, class will continue exactly as it has so far, except we won’t be in the same room. This material on Privacy and the Courts is so rich and engaging that I think you’ll enjoy reading and thinking critically about it.
I’ll email you the test at 1 Thursday. It looks exactly like Test #1 except it covers Libel, Access and Copyright, and your numbered responses are due at 1 Friday.
Hang in! Stay well! Let me know if you have questions!
All best,
k
Hiya Law!
I wish we were together. But we’ll try to make the most of being apart as we work our way through the last five weeks of Journalism & Law.
The best way to prepare for Thursday’s test is to review all of your outlines, the You Be the Judge in-class exercises, class emails and readings.
You Be the Judge Exercise
The last YBJ we did in class was on Copyright’s Fair Use Test. I’ve attached it, and here is my interpretation of the case.
An appeals court would not be sympathetic to B.I.G. because of his commercial purpose and his not transforming the song, even though he used only a small portion. I’d guess the jury verdict would be upheld. Bottom line: if you’re using someone else’s work, get permission!
I’ll email you your scores individually.
Current Events
FOIA’d again: The FBI has limited public records requests during the pandemic by prohibiting email requests and instructing those who seek documents to send their requests via mail, BuzzFeed News reports.
Not that it matters because they only respond to 1% of requests anyway!
Test #2
I’ll email you Test #2 at 1 Thursday, after which the email will be posted on the WordPress page: https://journalismandlaw.wordpress.com
Return only your numbered answers to me by email. Do not return the test itself. Your responses should be short and to the point. Deadline is 1 p.m. Friday unless you make other arrangements with me. I’ll then return scores and an answer key to you.
I miss seeing you! I hope you’re keeping well!
All best,
k
Hiya Law,
I’ve attached the Copyright outline for those of you who couldn’t be in class today, and I’m going to play you off home with this musical example of copyright infringement, which cost Robin Thicke about $6 million.
I’ll be back in touch on Tuesday, March 24th. Until then, safe travels home, and have a great break!
All best,
k
Hiya Law,
Here are the links you should check out before Thursday when we’ll finish discussing Access:
Also take a look at the terrific work that UMass Journalism alum S.P. Sullivan has done using state freedom of information legislation:
Stephen Stirling and S. P. Sullivan, “Death & Dysfunction: How N.J. fails the dead, betrays the living and is a national disgrace,” nj.com, Dec. 14, 2017:
S.P. Sullivan, “Force Report,” nj.com
https://www.nj.com/news/2018/11/nj_police_use_of_force_punch_kick_pepper_spray_sho.html
Looking forward to all of this and Copyright too!
Best,
k
Hiya Law,
Because we’ll finish our discussion of Libel on Tuesday, here’s a revised calendar for the next few weeks of class:
March 10: Finish Libel; Access
March 12: Finish Access; Copyright
SPRING BREAK
March 24: Review for Test #2
March 26: Test #2
March 31: Privacy
See you Tuesday!
Best,
k
Good Morning, Law!
As we start talking about Libel today, the Times reports that the Trump Re-Election Campaign sued the paper for libel Wednesday over an op-ed column asserting a quid pro quo between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign. Check the story here.
By next week, you’ll be able to take this suit apart, understand the issues and predict the outcome.
See you soon!
Best,
k
Hiya Law,
After UMass guard Derrick Gordon came out as gay in 2014, the Westboro Baptist Church came to campus to protest. Brian McDermott and I went down to the playing fields to see them, and Brian took these photos. Check them out to see if you can identify some WBC speech—symbolic and otherwise.
See you Thursday to talk about this group and speech on campus generally and to review for the Feb. 25th test.
Best,
k
Hiya Law,
On Tuesday, we’ll finish talking about the Supreme Court by discussing the six assigned articles in some detail.
By Thursday, please listen to Episode 13 of the podcast “In the Dark,” which explores the case of Curtis Flowers, who’s been tried six times for murdering four people in Winona, Mississippi, in 1997. Until recently, he’d been on death row for 23 years.
Near the end of the semester, we’ll look at how media coverage can affect trials, including jury selection, and how the court attempts to minimize any adverse effects. One way is through peremptory challenges, which allow attorneys to remove prospective jurors from the pool for no stated reason. In this case, Doug Evans, the white prosecutor, has attempted to convict Flowers, who is black, by removing all black jurors from the pool, a practice that was deemed unconstitutional in 1986. Three of Flowers’ convictions have been overturned by the Mississippi Supreme Court because of prosecutorial misconduct and two were hung juries.
The Supreme Court last spring heard the case, Flowers v. Mississippi. This episode of the podcast takes you inside the Court as the case is heard. The Court’s eventual decision determined that Evans was once again guilty of misconduct, and Flowers has been released on bail pending the state’s decision if it will try him for a seventh time.
For Thursday, your assignment is to bring to class a one-page, typed list of four aspects of this podcast that got your attention and why. A few lines on each observation is sufficient. Keep your thoughts focused on the justices and the process. We’ll talk about the Flowers’ oral arguments, and also start our discussion of Sedition.
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Best,
k
Hiya Law,
Please watch this short CNN video of Chief Justice John Roberts “admonishing” the Senate early today and encouraging participants in the impeachment of President Trump to engage in “civil discourse.” Roberts opened the impeachment trial yesterday, instructing Senators to focus on “impartial justice.”
We’ll talk about Roberts and the other Supremes Thursday as we discuss the U.S. court system. Looking forward to it!
Best,
k
Journalism and Law 