US Judge: Baton Rouge must end retaliation against lawyer
By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge says Baton Rouge officials must stop a court effort to punish an attorney who released video footage of a controversial arrest. The ruling ordered city-parish officials to end its attempt to have Thomas Frampton found in contempt — an effort that would subject Frampton to possible jail time. The federal court ruling came Jan. 7 in a lawsuit Frampton filed claiming that Baton Rouge officials were retaliating against him for adverse publicity resulting from the video, which showed police searching a juvenile. The federal judge said Frampton proved the contempt motion was in retaliation for his exercise of constitutionally protected free speech.
