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Opinion: Judges can easily allow Twitter and protect right to fair trial

donal brown April 17, 2012

With judges edgy about allowing reporters to tweet in the courtroom lest they compromise a defendant’s right to a fair trial, Ken Paulson of the First Amendment Center argues that the new technology need not get in the way. Paulson says anxious judges could at the very least set up a separate room with live video for reporters on Twitter. -db From a commentary for the First Amendment Center, April 17, 2012, by Ken Paulson.

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Military judge dodges issue of media access to prison treatment of key terrorist

donal brown April 16, 2012

A military judge delayed ruling on whether the press could have access to testimony about the prison treatment of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri charged with leading the USS Cole bombing in 2000 which killed 17. The CIA admitted waterboarding al-Nashiri and threatening him with a handgun and power drill. -db From the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, April 13, 2012, by Rachel Bunn. Full story  

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Former CIA officer indicted for leaking classified information about Guantanamo interrogations

donal brown April 16, 2012

A former CIA agent has been charged with violating the Espionage Act by leaking classified information on the Guantanamo interrogations to reporters. Ex-CIA agent John Kiriakou worked for the CIA from 1990 to 2004 and is among six government employees charged in recent years with violating the Espionage Act by talking to the media. -db From the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, April 13, 2012, by Andrea Papagianis. Full story    

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FBI suffers setback in effort to bury file on 1960s informant

donal brown April 5, 2012

  The FBI lost another round Wednesday in its quest to withhold records detailing the late Memphis photographer Ernest Withers’ secret work as an informant in the 1960s. A federal judge held that the FBI made errors and lapses but also deliberate decisions that confirmed the fact that Withers was an informant, making his file eligible for release to the Memphis Commercial Appeal under the Freedom of Information Act.  -db From the Memphis Commercial Appeal,

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Opinion: Obama’s performance flawed on First Amendment issues

donal brown April 3, 2012

While pledging to become the most transparent government in history, the Obama administration has fallen far short of that lofty promise. They made some strides in releasing some files and documents  such as the torture memos but have been secretive about domestic spying. They have also been criticized for prosecuting whistleblowers under the Espionage Act and for denying lobbyists access to the administration on the stimulus bill’s allocations. -db From a commentary for the First

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