
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 1, 1993                   TAG: 9305010058
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

APPEALS COURT STRIKES DOWN GAG ORDER ON N.Y. BOMBING

A three-member federal appeals panel Friday unanimously struck down a gag order that prevented prosecutors and defense lawyers in the World Trade Center bombing case from talking to the press.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the sweeping ban by Judge Kevin T. Duffy, which carried potentially enormous fines, was unconstitutional. The judges said Duffy's order was overly broad and a prior restraint on free speech under the First Amendment.

"The limitations on attorney speech should be no broader than necessary to protect the integrity of the judicial system and the defendant's right to a fair trial," the judges ruled.

On April 1, Duffy ordered prosecutors, defense lawyers, investigators and others connected with the case not to discuss it with the news media. He set a schedule of fines for transgressions, starting at $200 for a first offense and squaring the sum of future fines so that by a third offense, the total would be $1.6 billion.

Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by CNB