SDNY COURTHOUSE, Nov 12 – A federal judge
here took under advisement Thursday a request to restore
the press credentials and electronic device privileges
that the Eastern District of New York District Executive
"confiscated" on November 4. The case is Lee v. Corcoran,
26-cv-9896 (Oetken).
First, the papers: the verified complaint,
filed November 11 with a motion for a temporary
restraining order, names four defendants in their official
capacities: EDNY District Executive Eugene Corcoran, his
employee Michael Loguercio, USAO spokesman John Marzulli,
and U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr.
It charges First Amendment
retaliation, denial of due process, selective enforcement,
and seeks declaratory relief. The day after seven
unsealing letters to seven EDNY judges about public access
to ICE cases, Spokesman Marzulli who represents DOJ and,
essentially, ICE, said he would call the District
Executive, whose staffer Loguercio then arrived on the
10th floor and had three Court Security Officers demand
press passes for the Clase and Huawei trials. The showing
of a NYS bar card, and EDNY admission as a lawyer, was to
no available - the CSOs were told to "escort" out of the
courthouse.
On November 12, the assigned
AUSA - from SDNY, not EDNY - called this due process, and
also claimed there are not First Amendment issues. He
seemed to say that there is no right to take notes, even
by hand, in a courtroom. But what if the Marzulli's and
Corcoran's of the legal world allow only their friends to
use electronics and to report live or nearly so, while
telling the Press they don't like it can't even take
notes?
In a declaration filed four hours before
the argument (ECF No. 20), Corcoran said his office “was
informed†the targeted reporter “was observed†using a
cell phone in Courtroom 6B South during the Clase trial,
where a sign bans phones. He says he “directed†Loguercio
to revoke both press credentials, both Clase and Huawei,
“and the associated privileges allowing him to use
electronic devices within the Courthouse.†The declaration
says, lawyer or not, the journalist will be required
"to provide his electronic devices to Court Security.â€
In a letter brief (ECF
No. 19), Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Margolis called
Loguercio's arrival with three CSOs to confiscate press
pass and direct the escorting out of the courthouse
“notice and an opportunity to be heard." He
emphasized that the unsealing requests went to judges, not
defendants. But Marzulli fielded and rebuffed Press
requests for the promised redacted transcripts of the
October 2 "closed" session in Huawei - STILL not provided
as of November 12, with closing arguments looming. At the
end, he said he accepted service of the complaint and
other papers on behalf of all defendants.
Judge J. Paul Oetken, noting that
with Microsoft down he hadn't seen an email since noon - a
complaint also made in the SDNY Magistrates court which
Inner City Press covered both immediately before and
immediately after the oral argument, said he would take is
under advisement, with the Monday closing argument in US v
Huawei in mind. Watch this site
Nov 12 courtroom extra on X for Subscribers here and Substack here
