05 June 2012

VINDICATION: The 1st Amendment Trumps the Virginia Bar



You'll recall a while back that I discussed the Virginia State Bar's belief that it could violate the federal constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech by requiring bloggers to not blog about anything which happened in open court which involved their clients.

Once it got in front of a panel of judges that got shot down unanimously.

It's good to know that some people understand that becoming a member of the Bar isn't an unconstitutional pact of silence.


Viva Circuit Court Judge Kenneth R. Melvin, Circuit Court Judge Alfred D. Swersky and Circuit Court Judge Von L. Piersall Jr. They got it exactly right.

2 comments:

Bill said...

Leaving aside the constitutional argument, a lawyer who blogs about what happens in open court does not reveal anything. To reveal something is to disclose something previously unknown, but the lawyer is merely reporting what has already been made public in court.

Ken Lammers said...

Yes, I agree. However, the Bar ignored that part of the rule. I'm not sure it would have been overruled so summarily if it had just been a matter of interpreting the rule.