Posts by Zach Drennan

Following the fire in downtown Raleigh, we had an inquiry about access and the right to be on — and take photographs from — public property.  The Raleigh Police Department’s Media Policies specifically state that although access may be denied “to crime scenes or areas determined to pose unreasonable risk to health or public safety,” media…

North Carolina law requires newspapers accepting political ads to get and maintain certain paperwork.  political-ad-paperwork  In a nutshell, the law requires written authorization for each payment.  Payment must be in a verifiable form (i.e. not cash), and the paper must make those authorizations available for inspection by the public during regular business hours for two years.…

Last month, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned dismissal of a lawsuit brought against Amazon.com.  At the heart of the litigation was the question of whether the plaintiff had agreed to a mandatory arbitration clause that was embedded in Amazon’s terms of use.  The trial court had dismissed the lawsuit, finding that…

SMVT Partner Amanda Martin is a frequent speaker on topics related to traditional and social media.  c-amanda-martin-publications-and-presentations  This past weekend she addressed the annual meeting of the NC Medical Society on the issue of how physicians can protect their reputation in a social media world.  View Ms. Martin’s PowerPoint — physicians-social-media  — and reading list —…

After a jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiffs in a false claims action, plaintiff’s lawyers issued a 3 ½ page “celebratory press release” headlined, “JM Eagle faces billions in damages after jury finds JM liable for making and selling faulty water system pipes.”  J-M filed a libel suit against the law firm, Phillip…

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, charged by President Obama, has developed voluntary best practices for privacy, accountability and transparency issues related to the use of drones (unmanned aircraft systems or UAS).  Recognizing the strong First Amendment interests held by news gathering and news reporting organizations — and the public reliance on “an independent press…

Wake County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Don Stephens and Chief District Court Judge Robert Rader have signed a new administrative order relating to search warrants and the procedures for sealing warrants.  See Order:  Wake Order re Sealing  The administrative order makes clear: “Search warrants are public records and will not be routinely sealed in…

SMVT partner Amanda Martin weighs in concerning the North Carolina Railroad, which is owned by the State of North Carolina but refuses to provide records explaining how it is financing large land acquisitions. To read the Carolina Journal’s story, click here:  http://bit.ly/1pWNWQH

Superior Court Judge Joe Craig, who is overseeing a lawsuit in which media companies and advocacy groups allege that Governor McCrory and several of his cabinet agencies are systematically and purposefully refusing to provide timely and complete access to public records, has denied the defendants’ efforts to derail the case, which has been pending since…

A coalition of news media and advocacy groups have sued Governor Pat McCrory and a host of state departments for alleged violations of the public records law.  Read the complaint here:  N&O v McCrory Amended Complaint