DONALD LEE KIRBY, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
v.
BILL S. SUTTON, COURT REPORTER FOR CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT NO. 5, DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS, DEFENDANT-APPELLEE
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Appellants, a newspaper publisher and a reporter, appeal a civil contempt order issued after the reporter refused to reveal the source for an article concerning an ethics complaint filed against county commissioners.
The court affirmed the civil contempt order, finding that the state's interest in investigating potential statutory violations outweighed the reporter's First Amendment privilege to protect a confidential source in this context.
A reporter wrote an article quoting a confidential source about an ethics complaint filed against two county commissioners. The commissioners subseque…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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[*1083] PER CURIAM:
The complaint underlying this appeal was brought under the civil rights jurisdiction of the court, 42 U.S. C.A. section 1983, 28 U.S.C.A. section 1343, against a state court reporter to obtain a copy of the transcript of the state trial wherein petitioner, a state prisoner, was convicted. It is alleged that the transcript is needed for study so as to enable petitioner to petition for post-conviction relief.
There was no showing whatever that petitioner had exhausted available post-conviction remedies in the Texas State Courts. The transcript question presented is properly a part of such state post-conviction remedy, being ancillary thereto.
We treat the petition as a petition for the federal writ of habeas corpus and dismiss for failure to exhaust available state remedies. 28 U.S.C.A. section 2254; Stepp v. Beto, 5 Cir., 1968, 398 F. 2d 814; Texas v. Payton, 5 Cir., 1968, 390 F. 2d 261. Compare the exhaustion efforts in Wade v. Wilson, 1970, 396 U.S. 282, 90 S.Ct. 501, 24 L.Ed.2d 470.
The judgment of the district court dismissing the complaint is affirmed.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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Cited By
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Scruggs v. Moellering, 870 F.2d 376 (7th Cir. 1989)
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Jackson v. Louie L. Wainwright, 450 F.2d 289 (5th Cir. 1971)
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Bentley v. Jones, 467 F.2d 906 (5th Cir. 1972)
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- Isbell Enters., Inc. v. Citizens Cas. Co. OF NEW York, 431 F.2d 409 (5th Cir. 1970)
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- Wade v. Wilson, 396 U.S. 282 (U.S. 1970)
- Stepp v. Beto, 398 F.2d 814 (5th Cir. 1968)