Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner has ruled that the First Amendment guarantees of a free press apply to websites, too.
Attorneys for the defendants accused in the murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom had requested that Baumgartner force knoxnews.com to require commenters on the site to register their full names rather than just screen names, or for moderators to turn off comments for those stories. No question that online coverage of the case has attracted a boatload of first-rate extremist asshats, but there's also no question that the defense motion would have put prior restraint into effect.
Also no question: knoxnews.com moderators could get a handle on those comments with either more participation by moderators in the discussions or more strict requirements of their own.
Attorneys for the defendants accused in the murder of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom had requested that Baumgartner force knoxnews.com to require commenters on the site to register their full names rather than just screen names, or for moderators to turn off comments for those stories. No question that online coverage of the case has attracted a boatload of first-rate extremist asshats, but there's also no question that the defense motion would have put prior restraint into effect.
Also no question: knoxnews.com moderators could get a handle on those comments with either more participation by moderators in the discussions or more strict requirements of their own.
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