News groups challenge Virginia’s prior restraint on distribution of court records

ROANOKE, Va. (CN) — One of the biggest newspaper publishers in the nation is taking on Virginia’s court administration in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The First Amendment action by Lee Enterprises and Courthouse News challenges a statute that prohibits attorneys from sharing public court records.

Lee Enterprises is the fourth-largest newspaper chain in the nation with 12 newspapers and 100,000 subscribers in Virginia. Lee and this news organization claim in a federal court complaint that the Virginia law violates the First Amendment and a basic principle of British common law prohibiting prior restraints on speech.

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