From KARK (Alex Kienlen) today, reporting on a decision by Judge Lee Rudofsky (E.D. Ark.) in Entergy Arkansas LLC v. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Inc.:
A federal judge issued a decision on Wednesday denying a request by lawyers for Entergy Arkansas to stop the use of documents released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to a Little Rock woman….
The Democrat-Gazette reported on Monday that the Entergy documents, including some marked "confidential," were released after Jessica Kivell filed her FOIA request with the Public Service Commission and shared them with the newspaper….
The filing asked that the defendants be immediately prohibited from using or disclosing the documents, since it would do "irreparable harm" by disclosing Entergy Arkansas' trade secrets.
There is no written opinion from Judge Rudofsky; but besides the general First Amendment rules against temporary restraining orders barring speech, the matter also seems to me to be governed by Florida Star v. B.J.F. (1989).
