In Leak Cases, New Pressure on Journalists

[cal04]

Earlier administrations have fired and prosecuted government officials who provided classified information to the press. They have also tried to force reporters to identify their sources. But the Bush administration is exploring a more radical measure to protect information it says is vital to national security: the criminal prosecution of reporters under the espionage laws.

Such an approach would signal a thorough revision of the informal rules of engagement that have governed the relationship between the press and the government for many decades. Leaking in Washington is commonplace and typically entails tolerable risks for government officials and, at worst, the possibility of subpoenas to journalists seeking the identities of sources. But the Bush administration is putting pressure on the press as never before, and it is operating in a judicial climate that seems increasingly receptive to constraints on journalists.

In the last year alone, a reporter for The New York Times was jailed for refusing to testify about a confidential source; her source, a White House aide, was prosecuted on charges that he lied about his contacts with reporters; a C.I.A. analyst was dismissed for unauthorized contacts with reporters; and a raft of subpoenas to reporters were largely upheld by the courts.

It is not easy to gauge whether the administration will move beyond these efforts to criminal prosecutions of reporters. In public statements and court papers, administration officials have said the law allows such prosecutions and that they will use their prosecutorial discretion in this area judiciously. But there is no indication that a decision to begin such a prosecution has been made. A Justice Department spokeswoman, Tasia Scolinos, declined to comment on Friday.



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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/30/washington/30leak.html?hp&ex=1146369600&en=9db240cf3f964691&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[peacetalksforall]

1. There is a difference between a journalist and an operative.

There is a difference between a government employee who whistle blows for the good of the people and an employee who leaks for proft or for another country.

There is a difference between a government who works for the people and a government that works for friends, themselves, or another country.

Miller = operative
Cooper - journalist (as far as we know)

Franklin = leaked for another country
McCarthy - says she didn't leak, but if she did it was for the people

The Bush administration and their Republican Congress (including some Dems) do not work for the people. They only work for friends and for their own profits.

Truth lies in distinctions.

Leaks are either good for the people or they are not.

[partylessinOhio]

2. These are very dangerous times. Just pay attention to what is going on.

The biggest crooks, liars and dope heads are walking away free and clear. Illegals are making demands and appear to be running our country their way. Reporters are being targeted while the leakers are able to deny they are leakers. We have a very dumb AG who will do anything the Emperor wants witness the entrapments and roundup of large numbers of people. The ordinary citizens have lost their rights and are being forced to accept changes that are turning their lives and values around 180 degrees. We are being forced to accept outsourcing, job losses, foreign ownership, loss of health care, usury credit card and interest rates, loss of pensions, cuts in social security, loss of rights to file bankruptcy, high state and local tax rates, increasing fees, high utility rates, extortionately gas/fuel costs, and a general downtrend in our standard of living.

Wake up and use your vote wisely.

:think: