MFIA Clinic Lawsuit Succeeds in Lifting Gag Rules at Pittsburgh Jail

In a win for government accountability in Pennsylvania, the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press have succeeded in lifting Allegheny County Jail rules that forbid employees from talking to the press or posting information on social media.

As part of a settlement reached in the federal First Amendment lawsuit on April 23, the Pittsburgh jail has adopted new policies that affirm employees’ right to speak and to disclose wrongdoing at the jail. The policies also empower jail employees to speak out to the press on matters of public concern.

“We’re confident that these new policies secure the rights of journalists and the jail’s employees.”

— Federico Roitman ’25

The clinic brought the case on behalf of reporter Brittney Hailer and worked with Reporters Committee staff attorney Paula Knudsen Burke as local counsel. The complaint alleged that the jail’s gag rules violated Hailer’s rights to gather and report on the news and the jail’s employees’ rights to speak on matters on public concern.

The now-abandoned policies broadly prohibited employees from speaking to the press without the warden’s permission. They also required employees to hold all jail matters “confidential,” significantly hampering Hailer’s ability to report on conditions at the jail. MFIA’s suit alleged that these policies violate the First Amendment rights of the public and press, as well as the rights of the jail’s staff.

“This case challenged an overreaching policy that prevented all employees from talking to the press,” said Victoria Maras ’25, who worked on the case. “We worked with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) to bring this case as a means of demonstrating that the First Amendment does not tolerate government agencies gagging their employees in this way. SPJ is particularly concerned about this issue because similar policies are being rolled out around the country, and hopefully the jail’s withdrawal of its broad rules will send a message that such restrictions on employee speech are not defensible.”

The settlement was mediated by retired Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan under a mandatory mediation program in the Western District of Pennsylvania. After several rounds of negotiation, the two sides chalked out new press policies for the jail. Among other things, those new rules declare that jail employees may speak on matters of public concern as private citizens on their own time and are not restricted from revealing impropriety or wrongdoing by an employee.

This settlement and the resulting policy changes send a clear message that jail employees and contractors who want to speak publicly or with the press in their capacity as private citizens have a First Amendment right to do so.” 

— Paula Knudsen Burke, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

“This settlement and the resulting policy changes send a clear message that jail employees and contractors who want to speak publicly or with the press in their capacity as private citizens have a First Amendment right to do so,” said Burke, the Pennsylvania Local Legal Initiative attorney for the Reporters Committee. “Meaningful accountability and oversight depends upon the public’s ability to access information about what is happening inside of correctional facilities. We are glad to have reached a resolution with Allegheny County that will help ensure that, moving forward, our client and other journalists can receive information about issues of public concern from those who wish to discuss them.”

The new policies, one of which explicitly includes documentary filmmakers and freelance journalists covered by its press access provisions, will take effect 30 days from the date of signing the settlement.

“Working on this case was an excellent chance to get practical experience being a part of a mediation, which is not something you often get to do in law school,” Isaac Barnes May ’24 said. “Mediation provides a way to resolve the case by bringing together all parties, talking through differences, and developing solutions that everyone can live with.”

As part of the mediation process, MFIA’s students undertook a 50-state survey of jail press policies.

“We took inspiration from the best examples we encountered,” Federico Roitman ’25 said. “We’re confident that these new policies secure the rights of journalists and the jail’s employees.”

The Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School is a law student clinic dedicated to increasing government transparency, defending the essential work of news gatherers, and protecting freedom of expression by providing pro bono legal services, pursuing impact litigation and developing policy initiatives.