Blackman v. Substack, et al.

The First Amendment protects journalists who write about confidential information obtained through lawful means. But California Penal Code § 851.92(c) prohibits publishing a sealed arrest report and allows the imposition of $1,500 in penalties on any person who shares information from such a report. When San Francisco journalist Jack Poulson published a blog post reporting on the arrest of prominent tech CEO Maury Blackman based on allegations of domestic abuse, Blackman sued Poulson in California state court, citing Code § 851.92(c) in support of his litany of claims. The trial dismissed the case and the CEO appealed.

On March 20, 2026, FIRE filed an amicus brief urging the California Court of Appeal to affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the lawsuit on First Amendment grounds.

Reporting on the case also led to FIRE representing the First Amendment Coalition (FAC), Virginia “Ginny” LaRoe (FAC’s Director of Advocacy), and Prof. Eugene Volokh in a separate lawsuit challenging application of the statute to lawfully obtained information.