Katie Baker's attorneys said the U.S. Constitution protects the news media from government censorship, and that 5th District Judge James L. Shumate's findings are threatening to media freedoms.

''Fundamental to the protections afforded the press under the First Amendment is the principle that the press should be independent of government control,'' attorney David Reymann wrote in court papers filed Friday.

Reymann has asked Shumate to stay his ruling so Baker can appeal to a higher court.

Utah State Courts spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said Shumate could address the filing as early as today, when news media outlets seeking access to sealed case documents are already scheduled for a hearing.

Shumate found the KUTV reporter in contempt after the broadcast of her interview with a prospective juror in the trial of Warren Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Shumate said the report violated a decorum order that banned contact between reporters and the jury pool before the September trial. Shumate said Baker could purge the order if she produces a ''public need'' story within 90 days of his Oct. 17 ruling and provides a copy to the court.

Baker has said she didn't know about the no-contact provision and made a mistake by doing the story.