[DoodleBob]

All fair. But in this case, the police didn't ask for the reporter to hand over the "illegally-obtained property." They asked for a source. He didn't cave.

Then the police, not having asked for the report, come crashing into his home with a warrant for the report, handcuff him for 6 hours of questioning (presumably without his lawyer present), and probably didn't cleanup the mess they left.

The police have a tough job and are disliked by leftists and many patriots. It's not easy trying to serve and protec nowadays. I get it. But these tactics over a Public Defender who died like John Entwistle do not strike me something to which the Founders would give a cheery two-thumbs up.

[TheWriterTX]

They did ask him for the source of the report. He refused. They came back with the search warrant.

[Alberta's Child]

If a friend of mine steals something and gives it to me, I can be compelled under subpoena to identify my source or face prosecution for contempt of court.

If a friend of mine steals something and gives it to a "journalist," this "journalist" faces no such consequences.

That is a ludicrous double standard that has no place in a free nation. A journalist has no special protection under the U.S. Constitution, a remarkable fact that hardly anyone seems to realize.

But these tactics over a Public Defender who died like John Entwistle do not strike me something to which the Founders would give a cheery two-thumbs up.

I agree. But first and foremost, I suspect the whole idea of a "police department," "police officers," "FBI agents," and "public defender" would also be something that those Founders would find completely alien in a free nation.