Posted on 09/16/2013 9:50:33 AM PDT by swampthang77
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a measure which would create a definition of "covered journalists," as a special class of citizens protected from having to reveal their sources. Critics argue that by creating this definition, Congress would legally limit the individuals covered as "press" under the 1st Amendment.
Presumably, the law would effectively negate protection provided by the 1st Amendment for Americans not defined as "journalists" by Congress. Since the founding of the Republic, Americans have been granted protection of freedom of speech under the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution, which explicitly prohibits Congress from making laws, "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press."...
(Excerpt) Read more at usbcnews.com ...
Now that they have defined the true citizen journalist out of official protected existence, I recommend that we further now determine these ‘real’ journalists, pedophiles and sex abusers. That way we can regulate where and when they appear and how they interact with society....I say, win-win if they are going to unilaterally redefine freedom and the First Amendment.
Who and who isn’t a journalist isn’t determined by Congress..it is determined by the people who subscribe or read the work. This law will be shot down in flames by the Courts, but until it is tested it will work to suppress the jounrnalists that congress likes the least.
some have more free speech than others I guess
....so only “journalist” can criticize government with out reveling sources.
That is one way to shut down the “information highway”.
I agree with you. But I must caution you the ‘courts’ are fickle - in proportion to the unspoken political proclivities of the asswipe on the bench.
You remember our ‘conservative’ Chief Justice tipping the scales to Obamacare?
Regulating the free press, something the presstitutes always claimed wasn’t allowed yet they claim all other rights can be regulated. A nice healthy dose of their own medicine.
That is not what the bill does as there is no constitutional protection that allows us or journalists to keep our sources secret against a court order for an investigation.
This proposal instead legislatively sets up special protections for a media class that we wouldnt get.
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