The New York Times

Reporter loses bid to obtain secret interpretation of Patriot Act

A federal district judge ruled against a New York Times reporter’s request for a government secret interpretation of a section of the Patriot Act. The judge said releasing the interpretation would jeopardize national security by exposing intelligent sources and methods. -db From the Courthouse News Service, May 18, 2012, by Adam Klasfeld. Full story  

Read More »

Opinion: Newspapers may be able to capitalize on exposés

In the wake of The New York Times scoop on Walmart’s alleged bribery of Mexican officials, Felix Salmon of Reuters suggests that it would not have been unethical for the Times to make money on the story by selling it to hedge funds a day before publication. -db From a commentary for Reuters, April 24, 2012, by Felix Salmon. Full story    

Read More »

Opinion: Obama administration refuses to release secret memos over drone killing of U.S. citizen

After it came to light that secret legal memos existed backing a “targeted killing” policy, the Obama administration blocked the release of the memos. Writing for the Citizens Media Law Project, Justin Silverman makes a case for transparency particularly in the case that the government is hiding an important policy rationale behind a secrecy shield. -db From a commentary for the Citizens Media Law Project,  February 21, 2012, by Justin Silverman. Full story  

Read More »

Opinion: Assange’s extradition to U.S. brings First Amendment protection

A former general consul of The New York Times writes that if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is extradited to Sweden, he may soon after be dispatched to the United States and put on trial for leaking classified documents. But once in the U.S., Assange, like his publisher, The New York Times, would enjoy the protection of the First Amendment which would make it difficult for the Justice Department to successfully convict him. -db From a

Read More »

Sotomayor: Free speech vs. security likely to come before Court

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said yesterday that the nation’s high court likely would be asked again to weigh issues of national security versus free speech because of the recently leaked classified war documents posted on the WikiLeaks website. August 27, 2010 By The Associated Press DENVER — Sotomayor told high school and college students at the University of Denver that she couldn’t answer a student query about the security questions and free speech because

Read More »