The Federalist Society accuses ABC Nightline of false and biased reporting

Left Wing=Hate Website ^ | 1-16-2006 | Thanatos

[Thanatos]

The Federalist Society has sent a letter to ABC Nightline where they demand that ABC News investigate the producer, reporter, and anchor in their report on Jan 23rd, 2006 where they accuse Supreme Court Justice Antione Scalia of violating judicial ethics laws in attending a Federalist Society CLE Course instead of watching Chief Justice Robert's swearing in ceremony.

Here is the Letter from The Federalist Society:

Mr. David Westin President ABC News 7 West 66th Street New York, NY 10023

Dear Mr. Westin:

I write to express my deep disappointment and concern about a January 23rd report aired on ABC's Nightline. This report grossly misled viewers about a recent trip Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia took to teach a 10-hour course on the Constitution and seperation of powers. Nightline suggested that Justice Scalia's trip was a "judicial junket," and even strained to manufacture a link with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

ABC chose to focus on the fact that Justice Scalia's commitment to teach, which he made nearly a year earlier on October 10, 2004, conflicted with the swearin-in of Chief Justice John Roberts. Nightline's report insinuated that Justice Scalia's absense at Chief Justice Roberts' swearing-in was nothing more then Justice Scalia taking the chance to play tennis at a Colorado hotel on the Federalist society's tab.

Rather than taking a recreational trip with hours of tennis and going fly-fishing, as ABC would have its viewers believe, Justice Scalia was honing an agreement made nearly a year in advance with the Federalist Society to teach a serious scolarly program to more than 100 lawyers from 38 states that required considerable work and advance preparation. Prior to the course, Justice Scalia produced a 481-page course book that attendees were expected to review in advance. The course was approved by at least 30 state bars for most of the attending lawyers' continuing education requirements. Justice Scalia was there to share his knowledge and experience and received only reimbursement for travel and lodging.

It was very appropriate and resionable for the justice to honor his longstanding commitment to teach. There was virtually no advance notice that the Chief Justice would be sworn in on September 29, and, were Justice Scalia to have cancelled a couple of days before the scheduled course, most attendees would have lost the money spent on plane tickets getting to and from the course. The Federalist Society would have also faced considerable costs for breaking its contract with the hotel where Justice Scalia taught the course.

Nightline deliberately misrepresented the nature of the event despite the fact that the Federalist Society took pains to establish the facts with Nightline's senior producer, David Scott, as well as the investigative reporter who worked on the story, Rhonda Schwartz. The Federalist society set forth the fact that Jusitice Scalia arrived at the hotel at 11 p.m. the night before the course and departed for home at 6:30 a.m. the morning after the course ended, thus spending no more days at the hotel then necessary to teach the course. it was made abundantly clear that the Justice taught for ten hours, and played less then two hours of some informal "pick-up" tennis.

I am deeply concerned that, reminiscent of the false national Guard story fabricated by CBS's Dan Rather and mary mapes, ABC has simply chosen to score political points by blatantly disregarding the facts and true nature of the circumstances with surround the Federalist Society's course on September 30, 2005.

Not only does this deliberately misleading journalism irresponsibly call into question the integrity of a Supreme Court justice and the scholarly mission of the Federalist Society, but it also seeks to advance an extraordinarily troubling argument regarding the range of activities which judges should engage. ABC seems to be in favor of a world where Supreme Court justices are not allowed to engage in any outside teaching and speaking - before the ABA, the Federalist Society, or any other organization. ABC is content to have the legal community deprived of the benefit of the experiences and expertise of judges, which has for over 200 years been an indispensable feature of the dialogue that leads to the improvement of the law and the administration of justice, as well as the independence of the judiciary.

I am further concerned with the failure of what appeared to be good faith efforts on Nightline's part to provide the Federalist Society with an opportunity to respond to Mr. Ross's report last night. On two occasions we believed we had an agreement with Nightline producers that Federalist Society executive vice president Leonard Leo would be interviewed by Washington anchor Terry Moran and given an opportunity to respond to the false Nightline report from the previous night. But the producers reneged on both agreements, first insisting that mr. Ross conduct the interview and then insisting that he come on after the interview. This turned gestures of good faith into bad fait, given that mr. Ross smeared Justice Scalia and the Federalist Society the previous night in a story that he produced and edited to his liking.

That a major, respected broadcast network would nto only air a grossly lopsided story, but will fully ignore every pertinent facts, is a source of tremendous disappointment, and Americans expect and deserve better. We call on ABC to launch an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the development and production of this story.

Sincerely,

Eugene B. Meyer President

(LW=H note: Any mistakes in transcribing this letter is our fault alone and not the Federalist Society's fault)

The Washington Times said this about this report:

'Nightline' accused The Federalist Society yesterday called on ABC to investigate a report by its news show "Nightline" that suggested Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had done something unethical by participating in a legal seminar sponsored by the group. "The report grossly misled viewers about a recent trip Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia took to teach a 10-hour course on the Constitution and separation of powers. 'Nightline' suggested that Justice Scalia's trip was a 'judicial junket,' and even strained to manufacture a link with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff," Federalist Society President Eugene B. Meyer said in a letter yesterday to ABC News President David Westin. The program, which aired Monday, emphasized that Justice Scalia had missed the September swearing-in of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. because of his commitment to attend the legal seminar at a Colorado resort, suggesting that the jurist spent most of his time playing tennis and engaging in other frivolous pursuits. "Rather than taking a recreational trip with hours of tennis and going fly-fishing, as ABC would have its viewers believe, Justice Scalia was honoring an agreement made nearly a year in advance with the Federalist Society to teach a serious scholarly program to more than 100 lawyers from 38 states that required considerable work and advance preparation," Mr. Meyer said in his letter. "Prior to the course, Justice Scalia produced a 481-page course book that attendees were expected to review in advance. The course was approved by at least 30 state bars for most of the attending lawyers' continuing education requirements. Justice Scalia was there to share his knowledge and experience and received only reimbursement for travel and lodging." As reported in this column yesterday, the ABC program strained to link Justice Scalia to disgraced lobbyist Abramoff, saying the jurist attended a cocktail reception partly funded by a legal and lobbying firm where Mr. Abramoff once worked. "We call on ABC to launch an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the development and production of this story," Mr. Meyer said.

[Peach]

The Federalist Society letter to ABC.

[Lekker 1]

Well, I hope the real Federalist Society letter didn't have all those typos that show up in this one.

[geezerwheezer]

ABC News' Mr. Westin will whitewash this as he always tries to do. That they (ABC) distorted the facts of Justice Scalia's purpose fr his trip is not withstanding, I think we all know how slanted ABC is, so what else is new here? They are barking up the wrong tree, and should be sending letters to the advertising companies on that show. Put the pressure on where it matters most to those whose attention you are trying to get. Isn't ABC owned by Disney? Threaten to boycott Disney, and all of their parks. Then do it with a massive launch of negative publicity directed at ABC.

[prairiebreeze]

Bringing up Rathergate and See BS ought to make ABC wet their pants. Probably won't though, I don't think the old media even cares about it's public image any more.

[dsc]

"The Federalist Society accuses ABC Nightline of false and biased reporting"

In other news, an Oregon resident accuses the ocean of being "moist."

[an amused spectator]

As reported in this column yesterday, the ABC program strained to link Justice Scalia to disgraced lobbyist Abramoff, saying the jurist attended a cocktail reception partly funded by a legal and lobbying firm where Mr. Abramoff once worked.

What strain? I'll offer conclusive proof: Jack Abramoff has actually BEEN in Colorado, just as Justice Scalia has. Not only that, "The Federalist Society" and "Jack Abramoff" share the letters A, C, F, O and R, showing a clear link that only the politically tone-deaf can ignore. And Scalia and Abramoff have probably both consumed alcohol, as well.

Gads, this is EASY! When do I get hired by gAyBC's Nightline? ;-)

[Thanatos]

Uhhhhh.... How did you get the Left-Wing playbook???

[Giant Conservative]

Recently, ABC hired "an amused spectator", who showed an uncanny knack for making the trumped up twaddle ABC regularly puts out appear to have some substance...