Supreme Court To Decide This Week On Hearing Plame Case

[sabra]

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http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000964594

Supreme Court To Decide This Week On Hearing Plame Case
Judith Miller

By Joe Strupp

Published: June 20, 2005 11:20 AM ET

NEW YORK Journalists Matthew Cooper and Judith Miller may find out as soon as this week whether the U.S. Supreme Court will hear their appeal of a contempt ruling for refusing to disclose who leaked the identity of a CIA agent to them--a decision that could send them to jail before the end of the month.

The high court is set to consider the reporters' requests for certiorari on Thursday, along with hundreds of other appeal cases, according to Attorney Floyd Abrams, who is representing Miller. He said the justices will discuss the case at their Thursday conference, which essentially ends the court's current session, and likely make their decision known next Monday.

"The usual practice would be that they decide at the conference, unless they decide to put it off and decide in the fall," Abrams said today. "These decisions are usually announced on the following Monday." But, given the interest in this case, a decision could be announced any time after it is made, Abrams said.

....

In the event that the court decides during the current session not to take the case, Cooper and Miller would not be hauled off to jail that same day. Abram said at least one more hearing would likely be held before Judge Hogan, who offered the initial contempt ruling, prior to any jailing. He said that could be done within days of the high court's decision.
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[bullimiami]

1. haul them off to jail and take novak too.

they are all liars and propagandists disguised as reporters.

[RamboLiberal]

4. As much as I'd like to see Judith Miller in jail

But not on this type of case. Reporters should not have to reveal their sources. That's chilling.

Now Novak should be in jail for outing Plame as an CIA agent! That was treason!

[jojo54]

5. Agreed.

Novak is the one who should be jailed.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

9. Sorry, but the people who revealed Plame's name to Cooper and Miller....

...broke Federal laws protecting the names of intelligence operatives in the field. That makes Cooper and Miller accomplices for writing about the information they received, witting or not.

Cooper and Miller know that a Federal crime has been committed...it's up to them to either cut a deal with the prosecutors and reveal their sources, or suck it up and go to jail. There is no right that allows a member of the media, or anyone else for that matter, the freedom to evade subpoenas and cover up the evidence of crimes.

By the way, the law in this case is very clear in regards to people that reveal names of undercover intelligence or law enforcement operatives, and those that write about it. While most states have laws on the books that protect journalists to some extent from revealing their sources, there are no Federal laws the protect those same rights.

All of this is covered in the:

Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982
<http://foi.missouri.edu/bushinfopolicies/protection.html>

[whalerider55]

13. i guess i disagree

if your source is committing a crime in giving you information, you're an accomplice. I agree that Novak goes, but Miller and her partner are now involved in covering up a crime, and i'm not sure that reporters should be allowed to make use of information they've acquired through the commission of a crime that has been specifically committed to stop people from revealing the truth. WHen you boil down what the First Amendment Two really did, it turns out that they willingly fellated the devil, spat it out on the front page and then looked around and said... what, hey, i'm just doing my job, man. That's not the kind of journalism that passes muster. It degardes journalism, corrodes democracy, absolves the reporters and editors of any journalistic responsibility, and actually poops on the first amendment.


for all the repug crap he's taken, Deep Throat was leaking information regarding an ongoing crime and conspiracy taking place at the highest levels of the american government.

whalerider55

[RamboLiberal]

14. I disagree cause Felt could well have been committing a crime

on what he revealed to Woodward and Bernstein. And Daniel Ellsburg was definitely committing a crime smuggling out copies of the Pentagon Papers.

Sometimes a crime has to be committed to put sunshine on the government by the press.

The reporter has to be protected and smart enough to know what is being done to expose corruption and what is being revealed to aid corruption.

[PsN2Wind]

15. Felt told Bernstein and Woodward

about a crime that had taken place and the continuing crime of a cover-up. The outing of Valerie Plame was the crime. Apples and oranges.

[stickdog]

18. What crime did Felt commit? Furthermore, Ellsburg was more than willing

to stand trial for his putative "crimes" once the papers were published.

[Toots]

16. It is still about the outing of the CIA agent

They are being asked who gave them the Confidential information. It is one thing to protect a source who is giving inside information especially if it is of crimes committed. But when the journalists actually contributes to the crime and become part of it they should not be allowed to protect the traitors who gave out confidential information for them to publish and ruin someone's life. This is treason and they should not be allowed to cover it up..

[stickdog]

19. And they didn't even publish this criminal breech.

Furthermore, the source wasn't a whistleblower of government wrong doing, but a Bush administration lackey acting at the behest of the Bush administration to damage a Bush administration enemy.

Sorry, but the first amendment wasn't written to allow executive administration shills to use the press to commit crimes with impunity.

[seemslikeadream]

2. This is good news

I thought we'd have to wait till Sept.

Thanks

[lumpy]

3. Any bets?

x

[Karenina]

8. Bolton?

:evilgrin:

[sattahipdeep]

12. Krongard.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1332757

[bushisanidiot]

6. Novak and his source in the White House committed TREASON

but don't expect the repukes to investigate.

the COVER-UP will continue as long as the pukes are in power.
hopefully, we'll get congress back in '06 then maybe someone will look into the AWOL Bush administrations's high crimes and misdemeanors

[ladjf]

7. They won't touch the Plame case.

[lady lib]

10. My positive spin...

if nothing else, it gets Plame back in the news and public awareness.

[Supersedeas]

11. just another bad hand ratcheting up the necessity of the Osama trump

card--the President has never need Osama more than now.

[MGKrebs]

17. I agree with protecting sources,

but I don't think this is a 'protecting sources' case. This is a protecting reporters case. Whoever leaked this to Cooper and Miller were involving them in a very serious crime. Cooper and Miller should be very happy to turn the bastard in to protect future reporters from being put in the same position.

[NightOwwl]

20. This has turned into a big farce.

Why are Cooper and Miller charged with contempt while Novak waltzes around scot free?

But more importantly, why is the Plame case still dragging on? The buzz a few months ago was that the prosecutors were ready to file charges. DU had something like 26 threads on the subject...each one saying charges were right around the corner.

At this point, I don't have much faith in this case going anywhere.