Tag: Winter 2000-01

MICHIGAN -- Eleven media outlets, among them the Michigan State University student newspaper, scored a victory in September when the state supreme court unanimously ruled against an East Lansing prosecutor who subpoenaed the media's footage of a March 1999 campus riot.

Ingham County prosecutor Stuart Dunnings wanted the video and still photography of nine TV stations and two newspapers to help build his cases against participants in the riots, which broke out on the East Lansing campus following Michigan State

As the battle over the Internet exchange of digital music rages in the business and legal world, some universities have cracked down on such exchanges on their campuses, while others pointedly defend its use.

INDIANA -- An Indianapolis newspaper filed a lawsuit in October against Indiana University, claiming that the school violated the state's open-records law by refusing to release detailed information related to the firing of longtime basketball coach Bob Knight.

In Marion Superior Court, The Indianapolis Star argued that because Indiana University is a public institution it should be required to disclose all information leading to Knight's dismissal, which was provoked by what the university called "a pattern of unacceptable behavior."

Knight, who won three NCAA men's basketball championships during his tenure at Indiana University, has been the subject of criticism for his legendary temper both on and off the court.

University officials said they withheld information relating to his dismissal on the advice of the state's public access counselor.

"We've complied with the law in all respects," said Susan Dillman, a university spokeswoman.

WISCONSIN -- Reporters at the Marquette Tribune wanted to offer a look inside Milwaukee County's election, and they ended up with the district attorney knocking on their door.

Staffers of Marquette University's student newspaper responded to widespread rumors of voter fraud in the state with investigative reporting that included a survey of 1,000 Marquette students.

The explosion of the Internet continues to send shock waves through the American justice system, as courts mediate disputes between advocates of unregulated cyber-speech and government arms seeking to control such speech.

In recent months, cyber-liberties have prevailed in one federal court case, been limited in another and await final judgment in two others.

In New Mexico, state government officials accepted a November 1999 federal court ruling and laid to rest any possibility of continuing their fight to criminalize the electronic distribution of material deemed harmful to minors.

OKLAHOMA -- A federal appellate court ruled in October that peer grading in schools is prohibited by a federal law that protects the privacy of student "education records."

MONTANA -- Linda Tracy thinks she's a journalist. Missoula prosecutors say she's just a student.

NEW MEXICO -- When a group of Edgewood Middle School students used\nthe Internet to post a list of other students they hated, they earned suspensions\nand spawned a debate that pits students' right to free expression against\nschool officials' obligation to protect their students.\n

NEW HAMPSHIRE -- The Exeter School Board voted to make logs of Web sites visited by students using school computers available to the public in November after a county superior court ruled in favor of a father who wanted copies of Web page addresses accessed by children at school.

TENNESSEE -- University of Tennessee officials filed documents in federal court in September in an attempt to avoid the release of records the university claims are private and would cost thousands of dollars to assemble.

The ESPN television network subpoenaed the records, claiming they are required for the network's defense against a defamation suit filed by Tennessee football player Reggie Ridley and Victoria Gray, a former athletics department tutor.

Ridley and Gray filed their separate federal suits, each asking $2 million in damages, last year after the network alleged massive academic fraud by the school