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June 15, 2006

Supreme Court: Lynch may not have to pay fine

PROVIDENCE -- The state Supreme Court ruled today that Attorney General Patrick Lynch may not have to pay $15,000 in fines levied against him by a Superior Court judge during the lead-paint trial.

Judge Michael A. Silverstein Lynch twice found Lynch in contempt of court rules prohibiting lawyers from publicly criticizing each other during this year's trial. The judge ordered Lynch to pay $15,000 using personal funds.

In its order today, the Supreme Court stayed Silverstein's contempt order, suggesting that his instructions to attorneys may have constituted prior restraint, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled violates the First Amendment of the Constitution.

"Without definitively passing upon the issue at this time, we are troubled by the apparent 'prior restraint' effect of that order," reads the Supreme Court decision. "Accordingly, being acutely mindful of our legal tradition of opting in favor of permitting the exercise of free speech rights except in truly unusual circumstances, we have concluded that the order in question should be stayed pending final resolution by this court."

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 5:00 PM | Permalink

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