1st Amdt group sues over California ban on reporting sealed arrest records

The First Amendment Coalition is suing California Attorney General Rob Bonta and San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu. The organization argues the two used a section of California’s Penal Code to “chill journalists and publishers from reporting on the arrest of the now-former CEO of a controversial tech company.”

California’s anti-dissemination statute bars nearly any person or entity from disclosing information about a sealed arrest and imposes fines of up to $2,500 per violation.

The statute bars journalists, witnesses, advocates and others from reporting information from sealed arrest records.

“By itself, the anti-dissemination statute threatens a host of protected speech on important public issues,” the coalition states in its lawsuit, calling the statute a blatant violation of the First Amendment.

The First Amendment Coalition argues the tech CEO was providing data to the U.S. government and even had a security clearance through the Department of Defense.

Authorities arrested the CEO in 2021. In February 2022, he petitioned the court to seal his arrest record, which the court granted.

The San Francisco Police Department released the records after a journalist requested the documents. Authorities said the records were released under the California Public Records Act.

However, the department didn’t inform the journalist the report was sealed.

The journalist then posted the report on his website, disclosing the tech CEO’s arrest.

The tech CEO resigned from the company after the documents were released. After his resignation, he asked for the help of Chiu to pressure the journalist into removing the arrest report from his website. He also asked Chiu to censor his writings, citing the anti-dissemination statute.

The First Amendment Coalition argues the anti-dissemination statute deprives journalists of their First Amendment right “to publish lawfully gathered information on matters of public concern.”

The organization is seeking to have the anti-dissemination clause deemed unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Neither Bonta nor Chiu have commented on the lawsuit.