By: The state Supreme Court temporarily suspended a $1,000-per-day fine against a newspaper company for refusing to turn over two reporters' computers to the Pennsylvania attorney general.
The justices, acting Friday on an emergency petition filed by Lancaster Newspapers Inc., halted the fine but required the company not to move or alter the computers in any way.
Newspaper attorney William A. DeStefano called the ruling a "victory of sorts."
"The Supreme Court took the step of staying a court order while it bought some time to consider the merits of our argument more thoroughly," DeStefano said.
A key issue is whether the attorney general violated press freedoms in compelling Lancaster Newspapers ? publisher of the Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era and Sunday News ? to hand over computer hard drives that might contain information reporters obtained from confidential sources.
"We're confident that the state Supreme Court will give this issue the appropriate scrutiny it deserves," said Kevin Harley, spokesman for Attorney General Tom Corbett.
The justices did not indicate when they would issue a final order or say whether they would schedule oral arguments.
The dispute arises from a probe begun last fall by the attorney general into Lancaster Coroner G. Gary Kirchner's dealings with the press.
Authorities convened a grand jury to look into whether Kirchner gave Intelligencer Journal reporters his password to a part of the county's Web site restricted to law enforcement and other authorized officials. No charges have been filed.
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