Wyoming judge orders newspaper not to print story about community college president

UPDATE 5/27: On Tuesday, Arnold dissolved the restraining order against the Tribune and dismissed the college's argument that it could lose federal funding if the story was published, the Associated Press reports. (Read more)

A Laramie County, Wyoming judge has issued a 10-day restraining order against the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, preventing the newspaper from publishing a report thought to be critical of the president of Laramie County Community College. "The report is about a school-sponsored trip to Costa Rica in 2008 and the performance of President Darrel Hammon, who was a chaperone, according to testimony at a recent public hearing," The Associated Press reports. "Judge Peter Arnold imposed the order May 21 at the request of LCCC officials who argue that publishing the report could violate federal student privacy laws."

The newspaper learned of the report during a recent employee hearing, but LCCC refused to provide the Tribune Eagle with a copy when asked. The paper instead obtained it through an anonymous source, AP reports. Tribune Eagle attorney Bruce Moats said, "What is happening is a form of censorship and could be unconstitutional," and "The newspaper legally obtained the report and it shouldn't be barred from publishing what's in it." Moats has suggested the report could be published after removing any student names to alleviate privacy concerns. A court hearing is expected later this week. (Read more)

The Society of Professional Journalists condemned the judge's ruling an an unconstitutional prior restraint on freedom of the press. "The college was concerned the report, if published, would violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, which protects the privacy of students and parents by keeping education records confidential," SPJ says. "Educational institutions are threatened with losing federal funding for FERPA violations. However, the papers guaranteed their news accounts would not reveal student information and would rather focus on the actions of President Hammon, whose information is not private or protected by FERPA." (Read more)