One incident in the recent work record of incoming Attorney General Stephen Six is reason for concern regarding Six’s respect for First Amendment rights and a free media. As a Douglas County District Court judge, he issued a broad search warrant last month meant to allow a University of Kansas police investigator to examine the online subscriber files of the Lawrence Journal-World. KU wanted to identify someone who had posted online comments about a story on the death of a KU student — the sort of information that the newspaper had twice provided, under subpoena, in other cases. The search did not occur (the newspaper’s attorney got involved), but it should give Kansans pause that their next attorney general saw no problem in giving law enforcement a license to go fishing through the electronic files of a newspaper. As the Journal-World editorialized, “if the newspaper is forced to open its servers and files to police through warrants, it becomes an investigative arm for government law enforcement. That’s hardly the proper role for a free and independent news media.â€
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11 Comments
(sizzle) (pop)
That’s the sound of journalistic fat cooking under the heat.
Destroy the posts after a few weeks. You all should be doing it.
I don’t understand the concern..if a search warrant was legally issued, why should newspapers be exempt from that?
Taz, remove tongue, change cheek.
move tongue to other cheek, Taz
Yikes! We’re not safe even posting anonomously!
Yep…Phantom! And if the AG wants to subpeona records from this blog, we are ALL in trouble. Not for what we have posted, but from an AG who is obviously bored out of his skull and has nothing better to do but waste time on a bunch of opinionated ramblings!
Six needs a pie in the face, or for his wife to slap him around a bit, how un-American is that, spying on your own citizens for petty reasons.
Authority gets possessed with enforcing against citizens instead of protecting them. If information can be obtained through other sources or means it should be done. Without inhibiting the free exchange of thoughts or concern of threating behavior from enforcement.
I don’t know where the press gets the impression that they are above the conscipts of the law. If a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist clergyman, teacher, social service worker, etc. came across information related to a felony in the course of their work, they are obligated to inform the appropriate law enforcement agency. Why does the press think they are exempt from civil responsibility. Furthermore, why does the press think they can extend any privilege they might have to any and every Tom, Dick and Harry with a keyboard and internet connection. No one has any expectation of privacy or anonymity when post to a blog. When you post to a blog, it is with the intention that anyone can (and probably will) read it. Just because you don’t have to sign your name to it doesn’t mean you aren’t responsible for what you present for public consumption. And this partricular matter is not a ‘petty reason’ – it’s an on-going death investigation involving public safety concerns. Wake up and smell the decomposing corpses.
yawn
McCain Feingold was the worst attack on free speech in the history of the country.
The press supported “campaign finance reform” because they thought it would give them more power.
Hypocrits!