Manuscripts

"Contempt" Case

Description: Approx 95 items - letters, memos, teletype messages and other material related to LAT contempt case, 1938 - 1941. Notable names and items include: Harry Chandler ; correspondence with various law firms (Cosgrove & O'Neil... Bailie, Turner & Lake... Hanson, Lovett & Dale... etc.) ; correspondence with Robert R. McCormick (Publisher, Chicago Tribune) ; material from Los Angeles Bar Assn. ; 7-pp. transcript of "Radio broadcast of Mayor Fletcher Bowron, Station KEHE, " 2/7/1939 (mention of LAT situation not seen in transcript - ?) ; numerous items of correspondence with publishers and others related to journalism expressing support for The Times in the contempt case.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1938 - 1941
Call number: mssLAT
Creator: Los Angeles Times (Firm)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: The Los Angeles Times,

"Contempt" Case

Manuscripts

Approx. 20 items - wire service printouts on cases, letters, news clips and other material related to LAT contempt case. Includes: 16-pp. transcript from Supreme Court of U.S., "Times-Mirror Co. vs. Superior Court (CA) ; several pieces of correspondence involving L.D. Hotchkiss, Times Editor ; includes a letter, n.d., from L.A. Mayor Fletcher Bowron to Judge Clarence Kincaid on Bowron's efforts, as he puts it, to "stamp out bribery and corruption" and to attack underworld. Note: it is not clear what connection, if any, this letter has to the LAT contempt action and defense.

mssLAT

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Awards - Pulitzer Prize, 1942

Manuscripts

Approx. 15 items: 35-pp. printout off Lexis-Nexis, material from US Supreme Court and California Supreme Court; 3-pp. descriptions of "Awards of the Pulitzer Prizes and Traveling Scholarships"; collection of LAT stories on the lead-up to the "Contempt Trial"; collection of LAT articles related to LAT receiving a Pulitzer Prize in 1942, including the headlines "Tribute Paid 'Times' by American Press...great newspapers, wire associations and men in public life send congratulatory messages" (5/7/1942) and "Prize emblem sent to 'Times' "; teletype printout, 5/4/1942, reading in part, that LAT had earlier "instituted litigation which produced a Supreme Court opinion last December upholding the right of newspapers to publish criticism of judicial opinion, even in cases still pending, unless the comment would cause 'extremely serious' evil"; The "Contempt Case" began in 1938, and lasted nearly four years.

mssLAT

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Employees - Lawrence, John F

Manuscripts

2 items: 6-pp. transcript, headed "L.A. Times -- John Lawrence -- R#9," undated, is an interview with John Lawrence, one-time LAT Washington Bureau chief; copy of AP clip, 12/19/1972, "L.A. Times man in contempt," when U.S. District Judge John Sirica found Lawrence in contempt of court for refusing to turn over the tape of an interview related to the Watergate case.

mssLAT

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Freedom of the Press - Articles and Commentary

Manuscripts

Approx. 15 items - "wire" stories, article copies, letters and other material related to LAT court case (ca. 1939 - 40) and the Pulitzer Prize in 1942. Notable names and items include: multi-page copy of segment from book, The Pulitzer Prize Story, by John Hohenberg, 1959 ; articles about the court decisions, etc., from Among Ourselves, Editor & Publisher, Collier's and Liberty ;12-pp. "Federal Bar Association - Speech notes," 11/15/1966, "J.B. speech [Jim Bassett?] handwritten ; 16-pp. copy, "CASE HISTORY" (LAT "contempt of court case) ca. 1942, source unclear ; multi-page (long, tan sheets) - "An Address by Col. Robert R. McCormick - Editor and Publisher of the Chicago Tribune, before the Chicago Bar Association," 12/10/1938.

mssLAT

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Departments - Legal - Federal Trade Commission Case

Manuscripts

Approx. 15 items: clip, 8/18/1977, LAT, "FTC accuses Times of ad discrimination"; Wall St. Journal clip (same date), rate structure at (LAT) attacked"; several teletype tear sheets, 9/25/1981, sample headline, "Times Mirror to seek dismissal of FTC complaint"; LAT clip, 9/26/1981, "FTC tentatively approves Times ad discount accord"; article copy, AdWeek, 10/5/1981"; LAT ad run in Editor & Publisher, 7/24/1982, "A special message to our friends--thank you!...On August 17, 1977, the (FTC) filed charges against the (LAT).....on July 7, 1982, the FTC unanimously voted to dismiss the charges..."; etc.

mssLAT

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Press Freedom - Commentary (1 of 2)

Manuscripts

Approx. 15 items - booklets, reprints and pamphlets containing material related to LAT "contempt case" and other cases. Notable names and items include: booklet, University of Missouri Bulletin, "Missouri Honor Awards for Distinguished Service in Journalism - 1956" ; reprint booklet, "Freedom of the Press in Prospect and Retrospect," by Leon Yankwich, Southern California Law Review, 3/1942 ; booklet, "Newspapers and the Law" by Robert R. McCormick of Chicago Tribune, an address to the Chicago Bar Assn., 12/10/1938 ; complete 3/1939 issue of The Ohio Newspaper ; 39-pp. booklet, "...Criminal Court of Appeals, State of Oklahoma, Robert Wood against The State of Oklahoma..." ; three issues of Freedom of Information Center Report(s) from 1967 - 1969 (U. of Missouri at Columbia) ; 36-pp. booklet, Fair Trial vs. A Free Press (Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions), 9/1965 ; article copy, Southern California Law Review, 1/1940, "Contempt of court - interference with the administration of justice - publications" ; 26-pp. reprint, "Supreme Court of the United States - October Term, 1945... Pennekamp and The Miami Herald... vs. The State of Florida" ; 16-pp. bound speech transcript, "Guard It, Cherish It and Work for It," - address by Henry F. Pringle broadcast on Columbia network, National Newspaper Week, 10/6/1941 ; letter, 11/25/1941, to Harry Chandler from William S. Paley (President, Columbia Broadcasting) in connection with previously mentioned speech transcript. Split into two folders.

mssLAT

"Contempt" Case

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"Contempt" Case

Awards - Pulitzer Prize, 1942

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