First Amendment Limits Remedies Against Publisher In Labor Dispute

A Santa Barbara based newspaper found to have engaged in numerous unfair labor practices cannot be compelled to reinstate reporters who were fired for unionizing after they raised concerns about the publisher's journalistic integrity.  A panel of the Ninth Circuit concluded that such an order could potentially interfere with the publisher's First Amendment right to exercise "editorial control" over the content of future publications.    

The case is McDermott v. Ampersand Publishing.

-Katlheen Bergin