CNN, facing a possible $100,000 fine, says it was right to broadcast jailhouse phone conversations between former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and his attorneys.
U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler found the network guilty Tuesday of contempt of court for willfully violating his 1990 order against broadcasting the calls. He scheduled a Dec. 9 hearing to decide the fine."We continue to believe we acted properly, and we are reviewing the decision to determine whether to appeal," CNN spokesman Steve Haworth said. He wouldn't comment further.
The network argued during a trial in September that it was legally entitled to broadcast the tapes and that it had a journalistic responsibility to show what it said was government misconduct for taping the calls in the first place.
The conversations, leaked to CNN, were taped as a matter of routine by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Prosecutors denied having access to the calls.
The network broadcast segments of the tapes 11 times over two days, even after Hoeveler learned of their planned broadcast and warned any use of the tapes would violate his order.
"I am ever mindful of the importance of an essentially unfettered press and the mandates of the First Amendment, but I must also be mind-ful of the vital importance of compliance with orders of the court," Hoeveler said in his 37-page ruling.
Some experts were concerned about the effect of the judge's decision on media in the courtroom.
"Any time you hold the press in contempt, it provides a chilling effect for free speech," said Mary Cheh, a law professor at George Washington University in Washington.
Hoeveler lifted the gag order the month after the CNN broadcasts, deciding the content of the tapes did not violate Noriega's right to a fair trial.
CNN had appealed Hoeveler's gag order to the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided 7-2 not to interfere in the case. "Since then, there has been an explosion of gag orders on the news media," said Jane Kirtley, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
If CNN decides to appeal the conviction, "it is possible that an appellate court will not just look at the particular facts of this case but attempt to articulate a standard or a test to govern when news organizations can be held in contempt," she said.
Frank Rubino, Noriega's lawyer, said Hoeveler made the right decision after weighing the right to a free press against the right to a fair trial.
"There wasn't a need to play those calls," Rubino said. "The reporting could have been done without playing the calls."