Reporters Committee urges court to order Abu Ghraib photo release

[steve2470]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4264981&mesg_id=4265042

http://www.rcfp.org/news/releases/20050804-reportersc.html

PRESS RELEASE: The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Contact: Lucy Dalglish, [phone]
To remove your address from this list, reply with "remove" in the subject line.

Reporters Committee urges court to order Abu Ghraib photo release

Aug. 4, 2005

A coalition of 14 media organizations and public interest groups organized by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in U.S. District Court in New York urging the release of Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse photos.

The coalition, which includes CBS Broadcasting Inc., NBC Universal Inc., and The New York Times Co. , supports a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union has had pending the Defense Department since October 2003.

The government argues that the information is protected by Exemption 7(F) of the FOI Act, which protects law enforcement records from disclosure when they "could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual." Citing recent riots in Afghanistan following Newsweek's publication of an article about alleged Koran abuse at Guantanamo Bay, later retracted, the government says the official release of Abu Ghraib prison abuse photos could similarly incite violence against military personnel and civilians overseas.

"The government has taken the position in this case that the more outrageously the behavior exhibited by American troops, the less the public has a right to know about it," said Reporters Committee Executive Director Lucy Dalglish. "Such a stance turns the Freedom of Information Act inside out."

Exemption 7(F) has never been applied to hide incendiary evidence of government misconduct. Adopting such an interpretation would have dire consequences, the coalition brief argues, by rewarding misconduct with secrecy and "obscuring government accountability at a time when it is most necessary for the public to have full access to the facts." As a result, the American people would suffer a substantial erosion of meaningful news media coverage about wartime misconduct.

The photos at issue, known as the "Joseph Darby records" after the military policeman who first turned them over to the Army in early 2004, graphically depict detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. A handful of them were leaked to reporter Seymour Hersh and published in the May 10, 2004, edition of The New Yorker magazine. Some also were broadcast by CBS News.

The story and photos made front-page news around the world, sparking international and domestic debate about wartime detainee treatment, interrogation techniques and military accountability.

Hellerstein had earlier ordered the government to prepare the Darby photos for release by redacting any detainees' identifying features, but last month just hours before the July 23 deadline, the government filed its Exemption 7(F) claim instead of releasing the photos.

Exemption 7(F) has been invoked most often to hide the names of law enforcement agents, witnesses, and informants from criminal defendants and convicts that might hurt them. The government's novel interpretation should be rejected, the coalition writes, because the public's ability "to obtain facts about the government's misconduct through the news media and to hold the government accountable through democratic institutions" depends on it.

Although it is relatively rare for friend-of-the-court briefs to be filed at the trial court level, the novelty of the government's argument and its consequences for Americans' access rights prompted the coalition's formation and opposition.

The media and public interest coalition is represented pro bono by lawyer David Smallman of DLA Piper Rudnick LLP.

The 14 news organizations and companies are The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Advance Publications Inc., American Society of Newspaper Editors, CBS Broadcasting, Inc., the E.W. Scripps Company, the Hearst Corporation, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc., NBC Universal Inc., the Newspaper Association of America, the New York Times Company, the Radio-Television News Directors Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Newspaper Guild-CWA, and the Tribune Company.

The friend-of-the-court brief filed Aug. 3 can be found at: www.rcfp.org/news/documents/20050804-amicusbrie.html

[GetTheRightVote]

1. The govt is still trying to hind the truth, hopefully the media keeps

pushing for the photos being put out to public.

:kick:

[rodeodance]

2. the irony of their reasoning is baffling.

[The Night Owl]

18. .

.

[faithnotgreed]

3. please get the truth out

[Rose Siding]

4. At last! I wondered why no media orgs were represented in this suit

Better late than never :(

[uppityperson]

5. Thanks for the update.

[EST]

6. Is this the issue that forces a wedge between the r/w

extremophiles and the captive/capitulatory media?

[Gelliebeans]

7. It is about time n/t

[saigon68]

8. GEE WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT A 15 YEAR OLD BOY

SODOMIZED UP THE ANUS?

[Azathoth]

9. Even the mainstream news media is getting scared

This administration's megalomaniacal need for secrecy and their attempts to withhold information from the people are starting to reach critical mass; even the docile mainstream media is beginning to worry.

[truthisfreedom]

10. rewarding government misconduct with secrecy defines cheneyco.

it's all about cheney and his horde of hatemongers.

[steve2470]

11. more from aclu

http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=18842&c=280

Defense Department Files Secret Arguments in Further Attempt to Suppress Abu Ghraib Photos

July 29, 2005



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [e-mail]

NEW YORK -- The Defense Department has filed heavily redacted papers in a further attempt to suppress photographs and videos that depict the abuse of prisoners held at Abu Ghraib, the American Civil Liberties Union said today. The move is the government's latest effort to block the release of materials requested by the ACLU under the Freedom of Information Act.

"The government's recent actions make a mockery of the Freedom of Information Act," said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director. "The Defense Department has long dragged its heels on coming clean about the systematic and widespread abuse of detainees, but denying the public the right to even hear its legal arguments for withholding information is a new low."

Last week, on the deadline of a court order requiring the Defense Department to process and redact 87 photographs and four videos taken at Abu Ghraib, government attorneys filed a last-minute memorandum of law and three affidavits arguing against the release of the materials. The government's papers cite a statutory provision that permits the withholding of records "compiled for law enforcement purposes," that "could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual."

However, the government has redacted significant portions of its public brief, including the conclusion. The government also heavily redacted portions of declarations submitted in support of the brief. One of the declarations is that of General Richard Meyers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. ACLU attorneys have been provided with less-redacted court papers pursuant to a protective order that prevents them from disclosing the papers' contents to the public.

"Not only is the government denying the public access to records of critical significance, it is also withholding its reasons for doing so," said Amrit Singh, an ACLU staff attorney. "This exemplifies the government's disregard for democratic constraints on the use of executive power."

A hearing has been scheduled in federal court in New York for August 15 to address two issues: whether the public has been improperly denied access to information as a result of the government's redacted briefs, and whether the government should be compelled to release photographs of abuse at Abu Ghraib.

The photographs and videos in question were redacted by the Defense Department in response to a June 1, 2005 court order relating to a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act filed by the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans for Peace. The New York Civil Liberties Union is co-counsel in the case.

To date, more than 60,000 pages of government documents have been released in response to the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The ACLU has been posting these documents online at www.aclu.org/torturefoia.

The FOIA lawsuit is being handled by Lawrence Lustberg and Megan Lewis of the New Jersey-based law firm Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione, P.C. Other attorneys in the case are Singh, Jameel Jaffer, and Judy Rabinovitz of the ACLU; Arthur N. Eisenberg and Beth Haroules of the NYCLU; and Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights.

The redacted public version of the government's memorandum of law is available online at: http://www.aclu.org/International/International.cfm?ID=18835&c=36.

The redacted public version of General Richard Meyers' affidavit is available online at: http://www.aclu.org/International/International.cfm?ID=18837&c=36.

The redacted public version of Ronald Schlicher's affidavit is available online at: http://www.aclu.org/International/International.cfm?ID=18839&c=36.

The redacted public version of Phillip McGuire's affidavit is available online at: http://www.aclu.org/International/International.cfm?ID=18841&c=36.

[thebigidea]

12. meanwhile, the ace reporters at the Washington Post help cover it up

I wish some groups would apply pressure to those little flunkies and rah-por-ters(Copyright Woodward) to spill the fucking hundreds of pics they are sitting on - what, do they plan on doing a coffee table book of them in 10 years to help Woodward retire in style now that Deep Throat is out of the bag?

We know the Bushies will fight to the end on this subject, but the weasels at WaPo CAN be pressured.

[NJmaverick]

13. The army reflects it's commander and chief

That is why such photos exist.

[LeftNYC]

14. Press outlets demand Abu Ghraib photos

Has this been posted...

A coalition of 14 media organizations and public interest groups organized by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in U.S. District Court in New York urging the release of Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse photos late Thursday in a release to RAW STORY

The photographs, which have been seen by New Yorker journalist Seymour Hersh, are alleged to contain photographs of U.S. servicemembers involved in raping detainees, possibly underage. The Bush Administration has successfully blocked their release, first saying they needed time to anonymize those engaged in illicit behavior, and then seeking a permanent block, arguing the photos could endanger troops and civilians overseas.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Reporters_Court_must_order_release_of_Ghr_0804.html

There is a link to the brief on the site as well

[sabra]

15. yep

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1678272

[LeftNYC]

16. My bad...nt

[Hissyspit]

17. kick

[The Night Owl]

19. Oops.... Wrong thread again.

Arg! I can't function this morning.

[stubtoe]

20. CBS, NBC and the NYTimes Co?

Well, hey now! Is it profit or is it professionalism? Actually who cares as long as the truth gets out and everything gets spread out on the floor where the cat can sniff it.

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

21. Crappy ABC, CNN and Fox. I would boycott... if I watched any of them