Judge upholds ban on Free Press reporter in child-custody case

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This article was published 03/07/2009 (5961 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg Free Press reporter remains banned from covering a national news story, a Queen’s Bench judge ruled Thursday, in what appears to be an unprecedented legal decision.

Veteran court reporter Mike McIntyre was expelled from covering a controversial child-custody case last week — at the request of counsel for Manitoba Child and Family Services — after identifying an expert witness in the case.

CFS is seeking a permanent order of guardianship for two children, claiming their parents’ white supremacist beliefs amount to emotional abuse.

McIntyre identified the psychologist who conducted a “parental capacity assessment” in a story published online and in the newspaper. According to the CFS Act, no names of any parties or witnesses in a case can be cited.

McIntyre is the only reporter in the province who covered the case consistently from its inception. He apologized for the error to the court, the psychologist, CFS and the parents. The Free Press management apologized as well.

The Free Press asked the judge to reconsider the ban this week, arguing that it could have significant and wide-reaching impact on the rights of the media, resulting — in effect — in the court selecting who may or may not report on a trial.

Free Press lawyer Nicole Watson argued the ban amounted to a punitive measure that singled out McIntyre when other media outlets which had broadcast the name of parties or witnesses at the trial had not been subject to a similar ban.

The ban appears to be the first of its kind in Canada.

Queen’s Bench Justice Marianne Rivoalen upheld the ban Thursday, citing other media breaches, earlier unfounded concerns over McIntyre’s use of Twitter during the case, and the fact that she cautioned all media in the courtroom the day the alleged breach was made.

“Mr. McIntyre knew or ought to have known” the media restrictions under the CFS Act, she said. “I have a right to control my own process.”

She noted “freedom of expression does not trump other rights.”

Watson pointed out that the CFS Act already restricts who can and cannot attend the proceedings, and that the media are the only people representing the public.

The Free Press is the only news outlet to have followed the case every day.

“Mike McIntyre has been the Free Press justice writer for 14 years,” said Editor Margo Goodhand. “He is well-respected by judges and lawyers, and this ruling is both a surprise and a disappointment to the Free Press.

“In effect, it removes the public’s most informed representative in this case from the courtroom, and sets a dangerous precedent. We had hoped the judge would change her mind on this issue.”

The Free Press has not decided yet whether to appeal.