AP, Miss. Newspaper Sue Over Tape Erasure (Scalia incident)

[maddezmom]

By JACK ELLIOTT JR.
Associated Press Writer

May 10, 2004, 10:20 AM EDT


JACKSON, Miss. -- The Associated Press and the Hattiesburg American filed a lawsuit Monday against the U.S. Marshals Service over an incident in April in which a federal marshal erased reporters' recordings of a speech Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave to high school students.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Jackson. Named as defendants are the Marshals Service, Deputy Marshal Melanie Rube and unidentified John Does.

"It's been more than a month since this happened, and we're still angry about it," said Dave Tomlin, AP assistant general counsel. "People who enforce the law should know what the law is, and especially the basic law that says citizens can't be shaken down by their own government."

Scalia later apologized and also vowed he would make it clear in the future that recording his remarks for the use of the print media would not be a problem.

During the April 7 speech in Hattiesburg, a deputy federal marshal, identified as Rube, demanded that AP reporter Denise Grones and Hattiesburg American reporter Antoinette Konz erase recordings of the justice's remarks. The reporters had not been told before the speech that they could not use tape recorders.
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more:http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-scalia-recording,0,3088789.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

[Jacobin]

1. AWESOME. Excellent excellent excellent news

Because Scalia has said he didn't tell the marshalls to do it...that they did it on their own, which of course is a fucking LIE. This will flush it out and further emabarrass this fuckhead of a "justice"

[Just Me]

2. Very cool. The media retaliating against censorship is VERY cool.

I hope to see a LOT more of this form of recalcitrance against those who are bent upon controlling the flow of information which is totally antithetical to a healthy democracy.

[ixion]

3. unidentified John Does?

How do you bring a lawsuit against unidentified people?

[Jacobin]

4. You do discovery

like interrogatories and depositions to find out exactly who did what and then add them to the suit.

Happens a lot

[Ediacara]

5. Good for them!

And good luck to them!

[mouse7]

6. If case gets to SCOTUS, you know Scalia won't recuse himself

He's sees no conflict in making a decision on the case.

[Zan_of_Texas]

7. Not only that.

A peek beneath the robes would reveal.....


......



his duck hunting outfit!