Judge Orders L.A. Times to Alter Story About Glendale Cop

A federal judge on Saturday (July 14, 2018) ordered the Los Angeles Times to remove information from an article that described a plea agreement between prosecutors and a Glendale police detective accused of working with the Mexican Mafia, a move the newspaper decried as highly unusual and unconstitutional. The agreement was supposed to have been filed under seal, but it was mistakenly made available on PACER, a public online database for federal court documents.

Kelli Sager, an attorney representing The Times, said the 1st Amendment includes a strong presumption against government actions that prevent someone from speaking or publishing information.

Judge Walter did not explain in his order the legal justification for demanding that The Times withdraw the article.  (The LA Times, July 14, 2018)
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It is extremely concerning when the government orders major newspapers, like the LA Times, to alter the content of their published articles. It does not appear that there was any ruling that the LA Times article contained false or inaccurate information. Rather it appears that the government is censoring the press to conceal the details of a plea bargain that was made available on PACER.