FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A judge has branded a newspaper "shameful" for publishing educational material about Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz that was supposed to be kept private.
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But Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer stopped short Wednesday of finding the South Florida Sun Sentinel in contempt of court. The county school board claims the newspaper violated court orders by publishing details about Cruz's educational background that were supposed to be redacted.
The Sun Sentinel contends the school board had already exposed those details by mistakenly releasing them in a way anyone could see.
The judge said she would issue a ruling on the contempt issue later.
Nineteen-year-old Cruz faces the death penalty if convicted in the shooting that killed 17 people in Parkland, Florida, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where classes resumed Wednesday.
Judge blasts Sun Sentinel for publishing confidential information in Parkland school shooting case http://t.co/QZ0mQMQPtDpic.twitter.com/Za4zQROt2E
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) August 15, 2018
Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer faulted the newspaper’s lawyer, Dana McElroy, for leaving her with the impression that the Sun Sentinel agreed not to publish any information that was exempt from disclosure under Florida’s public records laws. http://t.co/qVylw1Q8PVpic.twitter.com/r2idaJWnwv
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) August 15, 2018
A news organization is entitled to publish information it has obtained legally, says the coalition of 30 media organizations, citing legal precedent. http://t.co/Iect9uj3axpic.twitter.com/wP0wwvzzZI
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) August 15, 2018
Judge says next time if she had to get a Sharpie herself & clearly state what newspaper can & cant publish, she will.
— Scott Travis (@smtravis) August 15, 2018
Worth noting from media coalition's friend-of-the-court brief, "the Supreme Court has repeatedly made crystal clear that it is the government's burden to safeguard information — not the news media's burden to refrain from publication — that does not belong in the public domain."
— Skyler Swisher (@SkylerSwisher) August 15, 2018