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THE JUDGE IN OJ. Simpson's civil trial has issued a gag order so restrictive that one First Amendment attorney termed it "wildly overbroad" The order by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki was immediately challenged in a suit by several media organizations, including the Los Angeles Times,Associated Press, NBC, CNN and Copley News Service.
Under Fujisaki's order, all attorneys, witnesses and litigants are forbidden to talk about the case for the duration of the trial, scheduled to start on Sept. 17 in Santa Monica.
If the order sticks, the atmosphere of the civil case would be far different from Simpson's criminal trial, during which prosecution and defense lawyers spoke freely almost daily to the more than 1,000 reporters covering it. The cycle inspired critics to call it a "circus."
The Times reported that attorneys emerging from an hour-long session in the judge's chambers, where they were informed of the gag, declined to disclose that the judge had postponed the trial eight days from its scheduled Sept. 9 opening. Lawyers for both sides reportedly agreed with the delay.
Fujisaki issued the gag order unilaterally, without...