New York Association of Black School Supervisors and Administration Press Conference Announcement; Subpoena of Black Reporter in Panther Investigation Quashed by Appeals Court in LDF Suit
Press Release
November 18, 1970 - November 20, 1970
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Press Releases, Volume 6. New York Association of Black School Supervisors and Administration Press Conference Announcement; Subpoena of Black Reporter in Panther Investigation Quashed by Appeals Court in LDF Suit, 1970. 664e954c-ba92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/02270f7d-5f3c-479d-a2c8-ef1a41574400/new-york-association-of-black-school-supervisors-and-administration-press-conference-announcement-subpoena-of-black-reporter-in-panther-investigation-quashed-by-appeals-court-in-ldf-suit. Accessed August 13, 2025.
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LEGAL DEF. & ED. FUND
10 Columbus Circle
New York, New York 10019
November 18, 1970
On Thursday, November 19 at 2 PM in the ballroom of the Overseas
Press Club, the New York Association of Black School Supervisors and
ReeinSshes Stor will hold a press conference to announce: (1) the
n's support of Mrs. Desiree Greenidge, principal of IS 142
in Queens in her suit against community superintendent Hugh McDougall,
(2) urgently requesting an investigation of Community School Board 28's
action in this situation, €3) to>vbring to the attention of the public
the facts of a systematic conspiracy to extinguish Black educational
leadership in New York City schools.
For further information, contact Mr. Steve Young, 10 Columbus
Circle, Suite 2030, New York, New York LOOL9.
Charles J. Hayes
Director
Public Information
City Editor
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NOVEMBER 20, 1970
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SUBPOENA OF BLACK REPORTER IN
PANTHER INVESTIGATION QUASHED
BY APPEALS COURT IN LDF SUIT
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.---In a landmark decision underscoring the
sanctity of a free press, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit has ruled this week that a reporter could not be required
to testify before a secret grand jury unless the Federal Government
was able to show a compelling need for his presence.
The action was brought by attorneys of the NAACP Legal
Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) in behalf of NEW YORK TIMES }
reporter Earl Caldwell, who was subpoenaed last February to
testify in a grand jury investigation of the Black Panther Party.
Mr. Caldwell was ordered to bring his tape recordings and notes
of interviews with Panther leaders.
LDF attorneys were appealing a district court order which
directed Mr. Caldwell to testify, though granting him the privilege
of withholding confidential information. He nevertheless refused
to appear and was cited for contempt of court.
The LDF brief asked that the subpoena be quashed entirely,
maintaining that:
1. Mr. Caldwell's appearance would destroy the relationship
of trust between reporters and sensitive news sources,
thereby severely hampering the gathering and analysis
of news at a time of widespread dissent and ideological
revolution; hence, his subpoena represents a dangerous
incursion upon First Amendment freedoms of the press;
2. the acknowledged broad investigative powers of a
federal grand jury must be justified by compelling |
governmental interest where First Amendment free-
doms are jeopardized.
Several prominent newsmen filed affidavits and briefs in
support of Mr. Caldwell's fight, including Walter Cronkite who |
concluded that:
"compelling news correspondents to testify before
grand juries with respect to matters learned in
the course of their work would largely destroy
their utility as gatherers of news."
In ruling that the judgment of contempt and the order
directing Mr. Caldwell's attendance before the grand jury be
vacated, the Court of Appeals held that, in view of the District
Court's protective order under which Mr. Caldwell had the
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NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. | 10 Columbus Circle | New York, N.Y. 10019 | (212) 586-8397
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privilege of relating only that information already made public,
his attendance would be a "barren performance," serving only to
destroy his functioning as a news gatherer and thus threaten
the vitality of First Amendment guarantees of freedom of the
press.
The Court noted that the relationship between a reporter
and sensitive news sources, such as the Panthers, “depends upon
a trust and confidence that is constantly subject to reexamination"
and upon a continuing reassurance that the handling of information
given has been discreet. "This reassurance disappears when the
reporter is called to testify behind closed doors," the opinion
asserted.
The Court further held that requiring Mr. Caldwell to
reveal information acquired in his capacity as news gatherer
gives the government power to convert him into an investigative
agent of the government:
"The very concept of a free press requires that the
news media be accorded a measure of autonomy; that
they should be free to pursue their own investigations
to their own ends without fear of governmental inter-
ference, and that they should be able to protect their
investigative processes.
“To convert news gatherers into Department of Justice
investigators is to invade the autonomy of the press
by imposing a governmental function upon them. To do
so where the result is to diminish their future
capacity as news gatherers is destructive of their
public function. To accomplish this where it has not
been shown to be essential to the Grand Jury inquiry
simply cannot be justified in the public interest."
The Appeals Court left to the district court the responsibility
for spelling out the government's burden of justification in
other cases where First Amendment rights are infringed upon.
LDF attorneys in the case were Anthony G. Amsterdam,
Stanford University professor of law, Charles Stephen Ralston
of New York, and William Bennett Turner of San Francisco.
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