Free Speech -- 2018



In re Murphy-Brown LLC   (4th Circuit)

Gag order restraints on free speech

The NAM filed an amicus brief seeking to persuade the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to invalidate a judicial gag order that limited manufacturers’ free speech rights. A federal judge issued the gag order, without prompting by either party, to restrain corporate speech in several major cases against pork producers in North Carolina. Manufacturers are frequently subject to litigation that attracts media attention, and they must be able to convey information accurately to the public about a case and their products to defend their company and products in the court of public opinion. The NAM’s amicus brief explained the harms to manufacturers if the gag order stood. The Fourth Circuit vacated the order and cited the NAM’s amicus brief in support of its holding.


Related Documents:
NAM brief  (August 6, 2018)