Keep This In Mind
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The First Amendment. This is the first actual law of our land. It states that there shall be no law against religion, free speech and free press. It also guarantees Americans the right to compensate for wrongdoing. That is what redress of grievances means.
Last night I discovered that U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White has sentenced two reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle to up to eighteen months in prison for refusing to reveal their sources in the leaked BALCO investigation. The reporters, Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, have appealed the case, which will go to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
What does this have to do with the First Amendment, you may ask? Isn't this about investigating leaked information in an investigation and not an infringement on Americans' rights?
Everything. And no.
It is the responsibility of the journalist to report information. To do so, there needs to be a level of trust between the reporter and the informant. Punishing journalists for doing their jobs essentially threatens that trust. People who otherwise might come clean with information will clam up without the trust.
Think about it: Watergate would have gone unsolved. Investigations from the local to the federal would have fallen apart. Journalists everywhere would find doors closed to them -- as if it already isn't difficult to find the truth.
Judge White's decision not only is breaking that trust, it is breaking the First Amendment. This has implications far beyond Barry Bonds and his cheating. This has to do with the very fabric of this nation.
We are a nation of beliefs. We believe in the rights of people to decide for themselves and to live free.
Breaking the trust of the reporter is no different than removing the right to a free press. Let us insure that this does not happen.
The First Amendment. This is the first actual law of our land. It states that there shall be no law against religion, free speech and free press. It also guarantees Americans the right to compensate for wrongdoing. That is what redress of grievances means.
Last night I discovered that U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White has sentenced two reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle to up to eighteen months in prison for refusing to reveal their sources in the leaked BALCO investigation. The reporters, Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada, have appealed the case, which will go to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
What does this have to do with the First Amendment, you may ask? Isn't this about investigating leaked information in an investigation and not an infringement on Americans' rights?
Everything. And no.
It is the responsibility of the journalist to report information. To do so, there needs to be a level of trust between the reporter and the informant. Punishing journalists for doing their jobs essentially threatens that trust. People who otherwise might come clean with information will clam up without the trust.
Think about it: Watergate would have gone unsolved. Investigations from the local to the federal would have fallen apart. Journalists everywhere would find doors closed to them -- as if it already isn't difficult to find the truth.
Judge White's decision not only is breaking that trust, it is breaking the First Amendment. This has implications far beyond Barry Bonds and his cheating. This has to do with the very fabric of this nation.
We are a nation of beliefs. We believe in the rights of people to decide for themselves and to live free.
Breaking the trust of the reporter is no different than removing the right to a free press. Let us insure that this does not happen.
posted by E-Luv at 9:59 AM
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