Star-Telegram, Inc. v. Walker

OPINION

GONZALEZ, Justice.

The issue before us in this mandamus proceeding is whether a trial court may issue a protective order to prohibit a newspaper from publishing information already disclosed in open court and made part of a trial court’s public record. We hold that the trial court’s protective order violates article I, section 8 of the Texas Constitution, because it unreasonably restricts expression by preventing the dissemination of public information. This constitutes a clear abuse of discretion by the trial court for which there is no adequate remedy at law. We thus conditionally…