So Much To Say about SCOTUS
Lots of people saying lots of things today, but the one thing I want to note is that I am so glad they refused to intervene in the case of Matthew Cooper and Judith Miller.
CNN's legal reporter calls it "terrible news." I love it. It means that journalists have no special federal rights.
Some journalists are trying to say it is good news, because it could have been worse: after all, the Court could have affirmed that they do not have special rights! But that is already the status quo. By not taking the case, they did affirm that.
And some people have even said, well, this is good, because (sorta like the medical marijuana case), it might force the Congress to take the issue up. While that might happen with medical marijuana (though I wouldn't hold my breath [ha ha]), there's no chance it will happen with special rights for the press. And good, because they deserve no special rights.
I am not necessarily in favor of the use of force (jail time) to get someone to reveal a source, but I am entirely against not using that force just because that someone is a journalist.
CNN's legal reporter calls it "terrible news." I love it. It means that journalists have no special federal rights.
Some journalists are trying to say it is good news, because it could have been worse: after all, the Court could have affirmed that they do not have special rights! But that is already the status quo. By not taking the case, they did affirm that.
And some people have even said, well, this is good, because (sorta like the medical marijuana case), it might force the Congress to take the issue up. While that might happen with medical marijuana (though I wouldn't hold my breath [ha ha]), there's no chance it will happen with special rights for the press. And good, because they deserve no special rights.
I am not necessarily in favor of the use of force (jail time) to get someone to reveal a source, but I am entirely against not using that force just because that someone is a journalist.
"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
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