March 4, 1975

Sup Ct on March 3 rules 8 to 1 that newspapers and radio and TV stations cannot be subjected to either criminal prosecution or civil damage suits for disseminating accurate information that is available from public law enforcement records; strikes down Ga law that makes it misdemeanor to print or broadcast name of rape victim; case represents 1st time that Ct was asked to rule that personal right to privacy could outweigh press freedom guarantees of 1st Amendment when resulting news rept was undisputedly true; Ct concludes that 'once true information is disclosed in public court documents open to public inspection, the press cannot be sanctioned for publishing it'; Assoc Justice Byron R White, who wrote majority opinion, appears to stop short of providing protection for accurate press accounts of inaccurate public records; forbids state interference with publication of 'truthful information contained in court records'; lone dissenter is Assoc Justice Rehnquist; actual trial of damage suit by Martin Cohn, father of rape victim Cynthia L Cohn against WSB-TV, Atlanta, has not yet been held; Justice White says he is confining majority opinion to 'narrower interface between press and privacy' rather than broader question whether truthful publications may ever be subjected to criminal or civil liability; Assoc Justice William O Douglas, in concuring statement, maintains that ruling should have been absolute, denying all govt power to interfere with publication of news (M)

Mayor Beame asserts NYC's econ would be greatly helped by large Fed tax cut, lower interest rates for cos and cities, public works programs and release of Fed funds that were appropriated by Cong but impounded by former Pres Nixon, US Sen Labor and Public Welfare Com hearing, Fed Bldg, Foley Sq; Econ Development Admr Alfred Eisenpreis exhorts Sens to give urgent attention to measures that would protect existing jobs; holds 1 of most urgent is provision of loans and loan guarantees of working capital for thousands of small businesses that are typical of city's econ (S)

Ross's gull, native to the Arctic, is spotted on Mar 2, Salisbury, Mass; one observer calls it 'birding event of the century'; gull breeds in NE Siberia and can sometimes be spotted in Oct off Point Barrow, Alaska, but is rarely seen even in its own habitat; this is first record of its appearance on E Coast of Amer; word spreads rapidly among bird watchers, and some drive hrs to take up watches along marshes and beaches where Merrimack River flows into Atlantic; bird authorities Roger Tory Peterson and Davis Finch, on scene, comment; illus (L)

NYS Appeals Ct, Bklyn, strikes down '73 conviction of Dr Thomas W Matthew on charges that he had illegally diverted $200,000 in Medicaid funds from Interfaith Hosp to other black self-help programs he was developing; Matthew is advocate of black capitalism who founded Natl Econ Growth and Reconstruction Orgn (NEGRO); ct cites lack of evidence and series of errors in original trial; dismisses all 71 larceny counts in original indictment, throws out 3-yr prison sentence and suggests that case was so flimsy that NYS Sup Ct Justice Thomas S Agresta, who presided in original trial, should have dropped it halfway through trial; Matthew's lawyer Herald Price Fahringer calls ruling vindication; original charges said Medicaid funds intended for hosp were used instead by 2 other NEGRO cos-Blue and White Bus Line and Freedom Village, drug addiction facility in Harlem; Acting Presiding Justice John P Cohalan wrote decision (M)

inhabitants of Shelton, Conn, begin assessing econ effects of blast and fires that destroyed Sponge Rubber Products Co plant, major source of employment for town's people; many find little reason for hope as they line up for unemployment compensation and other benefits; FBI and state police investigators search rubble for clues; they reptdly are looking for well-dressed, dark-haired man who had delivered several cartons to plant before it was destroyed; econ effects from explosion seem certain to spread beyond town as mfrs in related industries find their supplies of sponge-rubber products drying up; factory employe-mgr Jack Granatie says co was probably last major supplier of sponge-rubber products in country now that more advanced plastics have taken over mkt; most workers and investigators doubt link of leftist militants to explosion; seem to favor theories that disgruntled workers planted bombs or mgt had somehow been involved; co spokesmen later in day say 2 small ancillary plants, employing total of 100 people, would probably reopen in few wks; illus (L)