November 20, 2001
MEDIA HAS NO RIGHT TO BROADCAST EXECUTION
Last June Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed. The execution was witnessed by reporters and members of the victim’s families. The execution was not transmitted over the Internet, however, despite the requests by several website operators to do so. Entertainment Network and Liveontheweb.com brought suit.
A federal court in Indiana has ruled that the plaintiffs had no right to record or broadcast an execution from within a prison. Entertainment Network, Inc. v. Lappin, 134 F. Supp. 2d 1002, 2001 U.S. Dist. Lexis 5035 (S. D. Ind. 2001).
