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Harvard Medical School scuttles policy restricting student speech

donal brown September 3, 2009

After students complained that under a Harvard Medical School policy they would not be able to discuss such vital issues as health system reforms, the school withdrew requirements that students clear with administrators before talking with the media. -DB The New York Times September 2, 2009 By Duff Wilson Harvard Medical School is backing off a new student policy that would have restricted interaction with the news media after students complained it would chill their ability

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Homeland Security retains practice of searching travelers’ laptops without warrantHomeland Security retains practice of searching travelers’ laptops without warrant

donal brown September 1, 2009

The Customs and Border Protection officers will continue to search laptops and other electronic devices without reasonable suspicion, Janet Napolitano, head of the Department of Homeland Security said last week. -DB NextGov August 28, 2009 By Gautham Nagesh The Homeland Security Department announced on Thursday that it will continue to allow Customs and Border Protection officials to search travelers’ laptop computers and other electronic devices without suspicion of wrongdoing. The practice of searching travelers’ electronic devices

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Army admits using profiles to deny reporters access to fighting units

donal brown September 1, 2009

After repeated denials, the army said it had in fact used profiles to rate reporters and sometimes deny them an opportunity to embed with U.S. troops. -DB Stars and Stripes Mideast edition August 29, 2009 By Leo Shane III WASHINGTON, D.C. — The secret profiles commissioned by the Pentagon to rate the work of journalists reporting from Afghanistan were used by military officials to deny disfavored reporters access to American fighting units or otherwise influence their

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Cuts in newspaper staffs reduce efforts for public access to courtrooms

donal brown September 1, 2009

Observers worry that cuts in newspaper legal budgets will mean fewer challenges to efforts to keep court proceedings secret. Historically, newspapers, small and large, have mounted access battles for the public’s benefit. -DB The New York Times September 1, 2009 By Adam Liptak WASHINGTON, D.C. – You don’t see newspapers fighting to open court proceedings the way they used to, and people are starting to notice. “The days of powerful newspapers with ample legal budgets appear

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Press freedom under fire in Latin America

donal brown September 1, 2009

In recent months journalists have suffered setbacks in Ecuador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina as courts and leaders move to restrict coverage and demonize the press. -DB The New York Times August 31, 2009 By Alexei Barrionuevo RIO DE JANEIRO — For the family of José Sarney, Brazil’s Senate president, the daily onslaught of newspaper reports about nepotism and corruption accusations against him was too much to bear. So Mr. Sarney’s son Fernando, who

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