January 21, 2010
By: Edie Lau
For The VIN News Service

"Fiala said a confidential source brought to her concerns about whether external politics are unduly influencing COE decisions. She said she has since spoken to other sources who share the concerns but has obtained no restricted documents in the process.

“Whether or not I have documents isn’t really the issue at hand,” she said. “The issue is that this membership organization did not pick up the phone to talk to me about their concerns, but rather, sent me a legal letter that seems designed to scare me off this story.”

In the letter, dated Jan. 13, Jed Mandel, an attorney representing the AVMA, wrote: “We have been advised that you may be in possession of confidential and proprietary information of the AVMA Council on Education ('COE’). We understand that this information includes a significant number of pages of internal COE documents or other material.

“Retaining confidentiality of this information ensures the integrity and objectivity of the accreditation process, which is critical to COE’s ongoing success and continuing operations.”

Mandel went on to say that the unauthorized acquisition or disclosure of such documents may violate laws protecting trade secrets and/or copyrights.

“Accordingly, we demand that you cease and desist and otherwise refrain from any disclosure or use of this information and immediately return to me all copies of the COE and AVMA documents and information in your possession or control,” he wrote.

Contacted by VIN News Service for this story, Mandel could not be more specific about the nature of the documents because, he said, “I don’t know what those documents are.”

He objected to the news service publishing an article about the letter. “We will be very unhappy and will take any action we need to if you write a story about the letter,” Mandel said.".....
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"Moore said in an interview that he sees the threat as an attempt to abridge a journalist’s First Amendment rights. To Mandel he wrote, “If you or your client attempt to stifle the free flow of information, to muzzle VIN reporters, or to strong-arm investigative journalism, VIN will spare no expense in defending the rights of the profession to an open process.”

Alan Mittelstaedt, a lecturer at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communications & Journalism, said courts long have upheld the rights of reporters to use documents, even classified government documents, in matters of public interest.

“If the documents have a bunch of private information that have no news value, then that’s a problem if you publish the private information,” said Mittelstaedt, an expert in investigative reporting. “But if it says (as a hypothetical example) that doctors at an institution take home animal tranquilizers for recreational use, that’s certainly of news value, and you wouldn’t have any problem with it.”............"

Good for you VIN, taking on the tight-knit AVMA, an association with rules & pretense that is accountable to NOBODY ! I empathize completely, seems that just being a Veterinarian entitles one to gag someone else's First Amendment Rights , especially in a SLAPP state.!