by antiaristo » Fri Aug 26, 2005 6:49 pm
I've been through the whole thing, and to be honest there's not much new, except for frustration on the part of CS (join the club!)<br>What he is saying is that if you simply read the Appeal Court decision you will see that it is driven by the sheer gravity of the crime. Even a judge with a predisposition to defend confidential sources (Judge Tatel) decided IN THIS CASE that the crime was so serious that it outweighed ANY test he might construct.<br>It's big potatoes.<br>Certainly MUCH bigger than the IIPA.<br>ESPIONAGE IN A TIME OF WAR.<br><br>So why are Wilson and the press pushing IIPA rather than espionage (18 US 794)?<br><br>The only answer is corruption (no surprise to readers of this site!). <br><br>Postscript: there is good news for bloggers, who are part of "the free press"<br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>"The Supreme Court went on to observe that “freedom of the press is a ‘fundamental personal right . . . not confined to newspapers and periodicals. It necessarily embraces pamphlets and leaflets . . . . The press in its historic connotation comprehends every sort of publication which affords a vehicle of information and opinion.’” Id. (quoting Lovell v. Griffin, 304 U.S. 444, 450, 452 (193<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START 8) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/glasses.gif ALT="8)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> ). Are we then to create a privilege that protects only those reporters employed by Time Magazine, the New York Times, and other media giants, or do we extend that<br>protection as well to the owner of a desktop printer producing a weekly newsletter to inform his neighbors, lodge brothers, co-religionists, or co-conspirators? Perhaps more to the point today, does the privilege also protect the proprietor of a web log: the stereotypical “blogger” sitting in his pajamas at his personal computer posting on the World Wide Web his best product to inform whoever happens to browse his way? If not, why not? How could one draw a distinction consistent with the court’s vision of a broadly granted personal right? If so, then would it not be possible for a government official wishing to engage in the sort of unlawful leaking under investigation in the present controversy to call a trusted friend or a political ally, advise him to set up a web log (which I understand takes about three minutes) and then leak to him under a promise of confidentiality the information which the law forbids the official to disclose?... "<br><br>From pages 32-33:<br><br>"If the court extends the privilege only to a defined group of reporters, are we in danger of creating a “licensed” or “established” press? If we do so, have we run afoul of the breadth of the freedom of the press, that “fundamental personal right” for which the Court in Branzburg expressed its concern? 408 U.S. at 704. "</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>