Clinic News
“The right to know in a democracy frequently depends on the demand to know by the media.” Ambassador Willam vanden Heuval
Clinic Publishes Op-Ed on Judicial Transparency
April 4, 2024 - Clinic Director Mark Jackson and Local Journalism Project Managing Attorney Heather Murray recently published an Op-Ed in the Albany Times Union to amplify the efforts of journalist Janon Fisher to shed light on the judicial appointment process in NYC. While the trial court in the Clinic’s public records suit ruled that candidate applications for appointed judgeships […]
Clinic Alum Argues to Unseal Settlement Records in Pennsylvania Wrongful Death Suit
February 27, 2024 - Cornell First Amendment Clinic alum Connor Flannery ’23 argued in the Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County, on February 26, 2023, seeking access to sealed settlement agreements on behalf of local journalism client The Patriot News/PennLive. The Clinic’s client seeks access to the settlement agreements in a wrongful death suit to shed further light on […]
Clinic Kicks Off Another Semester with Spring 2024 Bootcamp
February 7, 2024 - The Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic kicked off the Spring 2024 semester with another informative and inspiring Bootcamp. This Bootcamp treated five new Clinic students and ten returning students to three days of learning and discussion. Speakers included speaker Daniel Novack, Vice President, Associate General Counsel at Penguin Random House, on ongoing legal challenges […]
Clinic Represents New York Newspaper in First Amendment Retaliation Suit
January 1, 2024 - The Clinic filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York in December 2023 against Delaware County on behalf of Catskills-based newspaper The Reporter. The suit claims that county officials violated the paper’s constitutional rights in de-designating it as an official paper and in issuing what has amounted to […]
Clinic Secures Access to Dangerous Driving Records for News Outlet Streetsblog
November 30, 2023 - After filing suit months ago against the NYC DOT on behalf of news outlet Streetsblog to seek access to basic information that is key to assessing the City’s pilot program aimed at curbing dangerous driving, the DOT produced documents to our client on Thanksgiving eve. Thanks to Clinic alumna Yifei Yang for her excellent work […]
Fall 2023 First Amendment Clinic Bootcamp
August 31, 2023 - What a great start-of-the-semester Bootcamp on Saturday, August 19, 2023, for our incoming students in the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic! Our students were treated to talks by the likes of Anne Galloway, Tim Cornell, Clinic Local Journalism Project Managing Attorney Heather Murray and recent alumnus Andrew Gelfand on the state of local news […]
Clinic Client Launches Wage Theft Monitor
August 31, 2023 - New York news outlet Documented launched its Wage Theft Monitor, the largest public repository of data on New York businesses found guilty of wage theft, in August 2023. The Clinic worked hand-in-hand with Documented over the past four years to secure data from the New York Department of Labor via a lawsuit and subsequent negotiations surrounding […]
Clinic Files Lawsuit Challenging Gag Order as Unconstitutional
June 22, 2023 - NEWFANE, NY – On June 21, 2023, Cornell Law School’s First Amendment Clinic filed a lawsuit in Niagara County Supreme Court on behalf of Tracy Murphy, animal rights activist and founder of Asha’s Farm Sanctuary in Newfane New York. The suit, an Article 78 petition, challenges a gag order Newfane Town Court Justice Bruce Barnes […]
Clinic Secures Reversal of School District Policy that Silenced Committee Members
April 17, 2023 - In March 2023, New York’s Pittsford Central School District reversed a policy which mandated that all members of District committees “remain positive and supportive of the District and Committee at all times and in all settings.” The change came after an Inclusivity Advisory Committee member raised First Amendment concerns about the policy and retained the […]
Clinic Settles Appeal of Citizen Journalist’s Anti-SLAPP Win and Attorneys’ Fees Award in Geneva
January 19, 2023 - Last month, Cornell Law School’s First Amendment Clinic and co-counsel Greenberg Traurig LLP finalized a settlement agreement which allows citizen journalist James Meaney of Geneva, New York, to stand by his investigative reporting on local construction company Massa Construction, Inc. This agreement resolves a lawsuit Massa brought against Meaney and his watchdog blog The Geneva Believer […]