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Court Nixes Gag Order in Britney Case

Paparazzi dangerous, but 1st Amendment protects them

By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 19, 2008 3:35 PM CST

(Newser) – Britney Spears will get no help from LA's family court in dodging the paparazzi, People reports. The commissioner overseeing her custody case today declined her lawyers' request for a gag order. Spears' legal team had requested a media blackout because the hordes of photographers were "dangerous" to the troubled singer "physically and emotionally."

The commissioner agreed that the threat was real but agreed with ex-husband Kevin Federline's lawyers that the pro-gag order arguments "don't pass Constitutional muster." "That's a law enforcement issue and an issue for the kind gentlemen and ladies of the press to deal with appropriately," he said of the camera-wielding throngs.

Photographers try to photograph through the back window of a Los Angeles City Fire Department ambulance carrying entertainer Britney Spears, as it leaves her residence in this Jan. 3, 2008, file photo in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Photographers try to photograph through the back window of a Los Angeles City Fire Department ambulance carrying entertainer Britney Spears, as it leaves her residence in this Jan. 3, 2008, file photo...   (Associated Press)
An unidentified man with a video camera is detained by two plain-clothed Beverly Hills police officers for a traffic violation while following Britney Spears in Beverly Hills, Calif.,Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008. Spears was quietly released from a hospital Wednesday but within hours was being driven through the city with...
An unidentified man with a video camera is detained by two plain-clothed Beverly Hills police officers for a traffic violation while following Britney Spears in Beverly Hills, Calif.,Wednesday, Feb. 6,...   (Associated Press)
Singer Britney Spears poses on the press line at the Scandinavian Style Mansion party in Los Angeles in this Dec. 1, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, file)
Singer Britney Spears poses on the press line at the Scandinavian Style Mansion party in Los Angeles in this Dec. 1, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, file)   (Associated Press)
Britney Spears sits in the passenger seat of her car as an unidentified man drives in Beverly Hills, Calif., in this Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008 file photo.  (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, File)
Britney Spears sits in the passenger seat of her car as an unidentified man drives in Beverly Hills, Calif., in this Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008 file photo. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, File)   (Associated Press)
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