Re: [privacy] U.S. DoJ: Reporters May be Prosecuted for Leaks

["Thomas C. Greene" <thomas.greene () theregister co uk>]

It's a little different in the USA.  The Constitution specifically guarantees 
freedom of the press.  This doesn't merely mean the freedom to publish; 
that's already covered under the right of free speech.  It means the right to 
gather news without government interference.  

So long as the journo in question didn't obtain the information illegally, 
it's fair game, and opening my mail is not a crime (yet).  No responsible 
journo would publish classified information when it's clear that doing so 
would cause more harm than good.  But the public's interest in being informed 
trumps most of what the govt. would like to keep hidden.  That's our law. You 
can disagree with it all you want, but that is irrelevant.  

The attorney general's job is not Constitutionally mandated. Mine is. So nuts 
to him.  Remember, Gonzales and Bush are claiming that the Constitution 
empowers the prez to do pretty much anything he pleases.  So, by *their* 
interpretation, it empowers the press to do pretty much anything they please.  

chrz,
t.


On Wednesday 07 June 2006 1:34 am, Florian Weimer wrote:
> * Fergie:
> > The attack on the Freedom of The Press escalates.
> >
> > [snip]
> >
> > A top Justice department official refused to tell a Senate panel
> > Tuesday if it is considering prosecuting any journalists for leaked
> > national security information.
>
> Sorry, I don't think freedom of press includes breaking the law.
> Journalists should be treated like ordinary citizens in all regards.
> If a law threatens freedom of press, the law should be repealed.  It
> should not be fixed by not enforcing at against journalists.
>
> In Germany, we have a pretty ridiculous situation: As a journalist,
> you don't have to testify in court, and you need not reveal your
> sources.  However, this right is granted to you based on your
> *profession*.  If you are by all other standards a journalist, but
> your activities are just a hobby, you cannot take advantage of this
> protection.  Everybody I've talked to expect that to be shot down in
> court if the first blogger decides to fight, but it's very unlikely to
> have a permanent effect because legislation can be introduced to fix
> this (for example, by requiring some form of certification, like the
> one that is required by legal advisers).
>
> Recently, it got even better: Our intelligence service are forbidden
> from monitoring (or recruiting) *any* journalist.  The justification
> is that the BND allegedly went overboard while tracking leaks to
> journalists, and apparently it was necessary to quell the journalistic
> outcry.  However, some of the most effective HUMINT and OSINT
> operations in this country are run by the media, and it's unrealistic
> to ignore that information or use only the parts that are publicly
> available.
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