Lawyers request gag article after article concerned about welfare of Carroll and Baker children

Media appeal gag rule request
Baker's lawyer motion opposed
Brunsman, Barrett. Cincinnati Enquirer, March 27, 2007, pg. B2.

BATAVIA - If a Clermont County judge bars the parents of Amy Baker from speaking to the press about a custody case involving her three children it would violate the First Amendment, The Enquirer and other local news organizations have claimed in court filings.

Anita Bechmann, the Clermont County public defender appointed to represent the legal interests of Baker's children, has asked Judge Stephanie Wyler to impose such a gag order.

"Bechmann's motion presents an unconstitutional prior restraint on the media and has already chilled the media's ability to gather the news," according to a court filing by attorneys Jill P. Meyer and Monica L. Dias on behalf of six news organizations.

The Enquirer stated the same objections in a separate court filing Monday in the juvenile division of the Clermont County Common Pleas Court.

Bechmann's request for the gag order "apparently was prompted by an article in The Cincinnati Enquirer published on March 18," which delved into who might win custody of Baker's children as well as the four children of Liz and David Carroll Jr., the attorneys for the news organizations said.

That story included comments from Tracy Ramsey, Baker's stepmother, that her grandchildren have had a horrible experience in foster care since being taken from their mother Aug. 29. That was the day after Baker and her children were left homeless because of the arrest of the Carrolls, who have since been convicted of the murder of their foster son, 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel.

After Bechmann made the request March 19, Ramsey and her husband, Bob, told The Enquirer they feared discussing the case further because the judge might hold it against them.

Several attorneys even refused to talk about the case, apparently because they mistakenly thought a gag order was in place, according to the court filings.

"Even without a hearing and any findings of fact or order from this court, Ms. Bechmann's motion has had the immediate result of restricting the media's access to information about a case of great public interest," the attorneys for the news organizations said.

Wyler is expected to consider the request for a gag order May 7, the same day she is to hear the Baker and Carroll custody cases.