Judges to judge: Overruled!

Last week, Orange County Judge David Velasquez ordered the OC Register to beg off reporting on a class-action lawsuit filed against the paper. On Monday, the 4th District Court of Appeal reversed Velasquez's order in no uncertain terms. From the Register:

Prior restraint is "the most serious and the least tolerable infringement on First Amendment rights," said the 4th District Court of Appeal.

Citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the appeals panel said gag orders are only justified to prevent dissemination of information about troop movements during wartime or to suppress information that "would set in motion a nuclear holocaust."