by Matt Welch

Reason

03/05

Under current law, reporters' ability to shield sources from the long arm of the law is not a federal right for all Americans but a privilege granted in 31 states and the District of Columbia to the limited category of human being known as 'journalist.' And by wearing the First Amendment like a badge, Bronstein is neatly evading his role in helping the government eviscerate another part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment that's really under assault is not the First but the Fifth. Besides putting pressure on journalists, the Bonds, Plame, and Rhode Island cases have one crucial element in common: Each is the direct result of the federal government's extraconstitutional prosecutorial power run totally amok...

http://www.reason.com/0503/co.mw.taking.shtml


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp