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Judicial Watch Files Lawsuit Against LA County Sheriff
The "Full Disclosure Network" Denied Interview With Richard Fine, Incarcerated During Legal Battle Against Corruption in Los Angeles Judicial System
| Source: Judicial Watch
WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - February 4, 2010) - Judicial Watch, the public interest group
that fights government corruption and judicial abuse, announced today that
it has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Leslie Dutton and the American
Association of Women against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
and Sheriff Leroy D. Baca for denying Dutton's "Full Disclosure Network" an
opportunity to interview inmate Richard Fine. Mr. Fine is under
incarceration indefinitely for contempt of court in Los Angeles County's
Men's Central Jail stemming from his legal efforts to counter alleged
corruption in the Los Angeles County court system. Plaintiffs allege the
Sheriff's Department and Baca have violated the First and Fourteenth
Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Since April 2009, the Full Disclosure Network, an Emmy Award-winning public
affairs program available on public access channels and over the Internet,
has been attempting to interview Mr. Fine for its "Judicial Benefits and
Court Corruption" series. The Full Disclosure Network and Mr. Fine have
been highly critical of a "double dipping" scheme by Los Angeles County to
compensate judges with benefits and perks they are already receiving from
the state. (Judicial Watch has filed a separate lawsuit over this same
issue.) The Full Disclosure Network has also been critical of the decision
to incarcerate Mr. Fine.
According to Judicial Watch's complaint, filed on January 27, 2010:
"Defendants Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Baca have
repeatedly denied Plaintiff Dutton's and the American Association of
Women's requests to interview Mr. Fine at the Men's Central Jail. [These
denials] have been arbitrary and capricious, and, on information and
belief, also have been unlawfully based, at least in part, on Plaintiff
Dutton's and the American Association of Women's coverage and criticism of
Mr. Fine's continuing, indefinite incarceration for civil contempt."
As the complaint notes, while Sheriff Baca has repeatedly denied the Full
Disclosure Network's requests for interviews, a reporter from the Los
Angeles Times was granted access to an interview with Mr. Fine for an
article published in the June 7, 2009 edition of the newspaper. In April
2009, a deputy for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department informed
Dutton no interview with Mr. Fine could take place because "the judge said
so," despite the fact that no copy of a court order to that effect was
produced. In September 2009, Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore
said that no interview could take place "because it was the policy of
[Sheriff Baca] not to allow interviews of Mr. Fine."
"It certainly appears Sheriff Baca was playing favorites with the press,
denying our client the opportunity to interview Mr. Fine because he didn't
like what the network's editorial content," said Judicial Watch President
Tom Fitton. "Obviously, it is constitutionally impermissible for law
enforcement officers to target citizens because of the opinions they
express. We hope other media rally to our cause in this fight to uphold
the First Amendment."
To obtain more information on Judicial Watch's lawsuit visit
www.judicialwatch.org.