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The First Amendment to U.S. Constit
Subject: The First Amendment to U.S. Constitution
Dear all activists...
How can we get those rights in Burma?
Yours...
Democratic Lubaung
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 to the U.S. Constitution
Go ahead and publish that, says judge; now unpublish it
What states do with the public's money is the public's business. When Alaska
commissioned a ferry to be built by Halter Marine Group, and the company
sued after completion for more than it was paid for the ship, that was the
public's business. So when the Juneau Empire newspaper sought details of the
lawsuit, through a freedom-of-information request, it was doing the right
thing. And at first Judge Patricia Collins did the right thing when she
denied the shipbuilder's request to block the state from releasing the
information.
So far, so good: The Juneau Empire obtained the lawsuit records and posted
them on its Web site, having missed its print deadline that day. Before the
day was out, however, Halter Marine was back at Judge Collins' bench asking
for a stay while the company filed an appeal over material it considered
sensitive. Agreeing to this request, the judge ordered the newspaper to pull
the information off its Web site and refrain from publishing any stories
about it.
Well, you just can't do that. Courts have held that under the First
Amendmnent the government cannot stop publication in advance. Newspapers,
magazines and citizens cranking out laptop newsletters ? all are generally
protected against such prior restraint unless national security is at stake.
If what gets printed proves libelous, say, then there are laws to deal with
that. But the government cannot lawfully prevent publication.
Enter the new technological age and the nature of the Internet and World
Wide Web. Whereas you cannot unprint or undeliver a newspaper, everyone
knows you can undo electronic posting. But doesn't it seem ridiculous to
make legitimate public information disappear after it has already appeared?
Yet the judge seems to have reasoned that since it was possible to accede to
the shipbuilder's request, then it was all right to go ahead and do it.
Juneau Empire managing editor Suzanne Downing rightly and courageously
refused. For keeping this important and legally obtained information
available to the public, and for reserving the right to publish news about
it, she could be held in contempt.
A legal expert says there's a good chance that the judge's stay order
against the newspaper will be found invalid. That's the good news. The bad
news is that this late in our nation's history, officialdom still resorts to
the view that information about the public's business can be overtly and
outrageously suppressed.
When that happens, it is the public that is being held in contempt.
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