# Amicus Curiae Brief — Manhattan Cmty. Access Corp. v. Halleck, 139 S. Ct. 360 (2018) (No. 17-1702) > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385016_0833%3A21 ## Record - **Collection:** Supreme Court brief - **Document type:** Amicus Curiae Brief - **Published:** January 1, 2018 ## Text No. 17-1702 In Te Supreme Court of the Anited States , - MANHATTAN COMMUNITY ACCESS CORPORATION, DANIEL COUGHLIN, JEANETTE SANTIAGO, CORY BRYCE, Petitioners, Vv. DEEDEE HALLECK, JESUS PAPOLETO MELENDEZ, Respondents. ee Zs On Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Second Circuit ee ¥ BRIEF OF THE NEW YORK COUNTY LAWYERS ASSOCIATION AS AMICUS CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENTS oa ¥ ELLIOT DOLBY SHIELDS CAROLYN A. KUBITSCHEK ILyssa S. FUCHS Counsel of Record ROBERT RICKNER LANSNER & KUBITSCHEK NEw YORK COUNTY LAWYERS 325 Broadway, Suite 203 ASSOCIATION New York, New York 10007 14 Vesey Street (212) 349-0900 New York, New York 10007 ckubitschek@Lanskub.com Counsel for Amicus Curiae COCKLE LEGAL BRIEFS (800) 225-6964 WWW COCELELEGALBRIEFS. COM i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page po FU Eee ‘ii INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE.....................+. 1 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ..........................045. 2 IEE titnnticenincenintceininsntadesuipernetnntanninsnusints 8 I. This Court should respect New York City’s historic decision to create the country’s first public access channels and designate them as public forums ................0..000.0000000 8 A. 1965-1970: Manhattan’s initial cable I ciesctcneniccesctetevinteenpeinensines 10 B. When New York City created the first public access channels in 1970 it des- ignated them as a public forum .......... 13 C. The cable companies’ operation of Man- hattan’s public access channels under the 1970 franchise agreements was in- I cerininnceinsitetisintasesinn enieresiieiilitiansteiiniin 15 D. The City extracted concessions from Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc. to improve public access program- ming during their merger negotiations.... 18 E. The City used the renewal provisions of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 to force Time Warner to make significant investments to im- prove public access programming in Pe cacektcoccnneititeshnentaiindsanensanions 21 ‘3 TABLE OF CONTENTS—Continued Page F. The 1990 Manhattan cable franchise agreements strengthened the First Amendment rights of Manhattan’s res- idents to freely express themselves on the public access channels.................... 25 Il. This Court should encourage public fo- rums like Manhattan’s public access chan- nels because they create more speech....... 28 ED ccnsescesttncresnesnntensintssimreienssteneententnns 33 Appendix—Press Release dated May 16, 1991.... App. 1 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page CASES Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138 (1983) ................... 7,29 Eastern Telecom Corp. v. Borough of East Conemaugh, 872 F.2d 30 (3d Cir. 1989).................. 22 New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) ......... 4 New York Times Company v. United States, 403 SE, SIE TED cciasisdienniainstncahecseentiaiiiatbionmenstbinieiatiibesntondiaad 4 Union CATV, Inc. v. City of Sturgis, 107 F.3d 434 ee ecicctectanssecnienhetctebescasinertstesinsencceniusi 30, 31 Whalen v. Roe, 429 U.S. 589 (1977) ..................2..20000+ 30 CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS Se Ir IIE Oooo echicisidenetrssiesinmananemnenenntinnsl passim STATUTES, BILLS AND REGULATIONS H.R. Rep. No. 98-934 (1984), 1984 U.S.C.C_ALN. SEIT sinsstanistuisiennatanienslitunscisstseinintinastauadiannbtaisenianpainopaieanintn 22 EE: Oe UID cnichinliciitincamiaisiananisteneianindseicosmsiannbeniuaeida 28 47 U.S.C. EIN 33 CONCLUSION The Court should affirm the judgment entered be- low. Respectfully submitted, E.uiot DoLsy SHIELDS ILyssa S. Fucus ROBERT RICKNER New York County LAWYERS ASSOCIATION 14 Vesey Street New York, New York 10007 CAROLYN A. KUBITSCHEK Counsel of Record LANSNER & KUBITSCHEK 325 Broadway, Suite 203 New York, New York 10007 (212) 349-0900 ckubitschek@Lanskub.com Counsel for Amicus Curiae January 18, 2019 App. 1 — Manhattan Borough President RUTH MESSINGER MUNICIPAL BUILDING, 1 CENTRE STREET, 19th FLOOR, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: ROBERT BRAVO-WEBER MAY 16, 1991 (212) 669-8140 MESSINGER ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF COMMUNITY ACCESS ORGANIZATION TO AD- MINISTER PUBLIC ACCESS CABLE CHANNELS Several months after Manhattan Borough Presi- dent Ruth Messinger appointed a seven-member ini- tial board of directors to administer Manhattan’s four public access channels, the Borough President and the CAO’s chair Gretchen Dykstra announce today that the Manhattan Community Access Organization has ratified its by-laws and has filed for incorporation. The CAO’s central charge is to administer and manage all the public access channels of the cable tel- evision systems in Manhattan — currently Paragon and Manhattan cable system — and oversee the use of facil- ities, equipment, supplies, services and other support made available for programming. Prior to ratifying its by-laws, the Board met with many local public access producer groups, government officials and the Time-Warner company. “I think this small group of talented and dedicated individuals has done an extraordinary job of putting together the most extensive and thoughtful set of by-laws to govern such App. 2 an organization. From the outset, I stressed to them that I wanted an open and independent board and or- ganization. I am very pleased to say they took my charge to heart,” said the Borough President. Highlights of the CAD’s by-laws include: * A 19-member board, representing the ethnic, economic and geographical diversity of Manhattan will, one year after the CAO begins training sessions for public access producers, include six slots reserved for active public access producers. * The establishment of an Advisory Nominating Committee, to recommend individuals for the six pub- lic access producer slots on the Board. * Tough prohibitions against conflicts of interest, ensuring the independence and integrity of the Board. * In addition to its Annual Meeting the Board will hold at least two meetings each year that will be open to the public. CAO’s goals include: * A training program that will assist and train individuals and community groups on how to use pub- lic access television. The program will include advice on how to plan and produce programming for public access channel, instruction on how to use equipment and production facilities creatively and efficiently, and how to maximize channel time. * An extensive outreach program that will en- courage newcomers and beginners to participate in the App. 3 training sessions. Likewise, outreach to experienced producers to assist in setting the organization’s goals and policies. * A charge to develop additional funding re- sources to expand and promote public access televi- sion. The Manhattan CAO unlike its counterparts in the other boroughs is in a unique situation since Man- hattan has a history of public access television while the others do not. “There are very high expectations for the Manhat- tan CAO. There is a long history of public access tele- vision here and people have very strong opinions about how the CAO should operate. Current users and future public access producers will be very impressed with the openness of this organization,” said Ms. Messinger. Under the terms of the agreement between the City and Time-Warner, the CAO will receive a capital grant of $5.35 million to be used for facilities and equipment. At this time, that money is held in escrow by the Borough President until the State Cable Com- mission on Television (CCT) — which has jurisdiction over cable issues — authorizes its disbursement. The CAO is required to submit to the Borough President and the CCT a capital expenditure plan, detailing how the CAO intends to spend these capital funds. In addition to the capital grant, Time-Warner is required to pay the CAO $3 per subscriber per year to assist in defraying operating costs. This money will App. 4 also be used to make grants to assist public access pro- ducers and support programming initiatives of the CAO. Biographies of the Board of Directors (in alphabet- ical order) Andrew Blau — Vice Chair — Project Coordinator and Research Associate, Columbia Institute for Tele- Information, Columbia Graduate School of Business. Former Assistant for Communication Policy/Advocacy for the United Church of Christ. Former Chair of the group, New York Citizen’s Committee for Responsible Media. Vice-Chair of the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers and an active member of the As- sociation of Independent Video and Filmakers Advo- cacy Committee. Gretchen Dykstra — Chair — Project Director for National Video Resources, a project of the Rockefeller Foundation. Served as Director of Communications for the Charter Revision Commission. A member of the Communications Advisory Committee for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. Active with Citizens Union Foun- dation and Television Trust for the Environment. Laura Handman is a Partner with the law firm of Lankenau & Bickford, representing national and loca! magazines, new weeklies and book publishers in the areas of libel, privacy, copyright, trademark, obscenity and other matters. Prior to that, she worked as an As- sistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Serves as a Director for the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. App. 5 Christopher Poussaint, Vice President of Research and Development with J.I1. Sopher and Company, a real estate brokerage firm in New York City. Co-chair of Publicity and Communications for Community Board 1. Graduate of Institute for New Cinema Artists. Inde- pendent producer for cable and broadcast television and a member of the National Association of Broad- casters and the National Cable Television Association. Ruby Rich, Director of Film and Media programs, the New York State Council on the Arts. Former film critic, Chicago Reader. Writer, Village Voice. Former Director, Film Center, School of the Arts Institute. Member of the National Advisory Board, Frameline Festival, San Francisco. Arthur Tsuchiya is a visiting Assistant Professor with the Department of Theater at Middlebury Col- lege, Vermont. Formerly with the New York State Council on the Arts. Currently serves as Senior Con- sultant to Independent Television Services. Blanca Vazquez, editor, Centro Bulletin, a journal focusing on Puerto Ricans living in the United States and Puerto Rico, published by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, New York. Active with El Museo del Barrio, Institute for Puerto Rican Policy, the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights and Media Network. Upon her recent election as Chair of the Manhat- tan CAO, Gretchen Dykstra said: “Whether it’s for entertainment, education or empowerment, we hope to set a new standard for opening up television in App. 6 Manhattan, so that anyone who wants, will have a voice. We all can learn from and enjoy the diversity of these opinions, ideas and dreams.” --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385016_0833%3A21. Public record. Not legal advice.