January 18, 2007
Good News For Reporters
Congress is asking the prosecutors in the BALCO case to drop their prosecution of two reporters.
"The issuance of these subpoenas appears to run directly counter to the protections afforded to the press under the First Amendment," Rep. John D. Conyers, D-Mich. said in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington.
Conyers sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking him to withdraw the subpoenas. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., also signed the letter.
"Like most Americans, we have watched with great concern as the Department of Justice issued grand jury subpoenas to the reporters and their newspaper to learn the identities of their confidential sources on some of the most significant reporting in the history of professional sports," Conyers and Davis wrote. "We write to you now to express my deep concern over the issuance of these subpoenas and to urge you to withdraw them."
The leaks justify the persecution of ballplayers by Congress, so they're okay.
Posted by David Pinto at
11:20 PM
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A telling last sentence David. The politicians in this country are a ridiculous lot.
Yeah, yeah, I'M the crazy one here "defending" Bonds--which isn't exactly true, by the way--but where's Congress wondering about all the money spent by the IRS to pursue this matter for years and with absolutely ZERO tangible results? And, if results come, they'll come in the form a a perjury indictment? Lunacy.
Somehow, I think that if any president asked Congress to drop its investigation (of anything) then Congress would be up in arms about separation of powers.
This whole spectacle has really yielded some fruitful, no? Two reporters (whose thorough work should yield more than jail time, yeesh) sitting in the clink while Barry continues to skate is just wrong on so many levels.
I agree with you, Kent. I mean, I'd love to see Barry pay for his actions, but not this way, not by these guys. It just speaks to the joke that Pud Selig has been as a commissioner.
Forget the specifics and consider what happened here. Grand jury testimony which is supposed to remain secret was leaked to two reporters. That is a crime. Based on their own articles and book, these reporters have direct knowledge of this crime. They can testify or they can rot in jail. This is NOT a first amendment issue.
Whatever our feelings are towards Barry Bonds, he deserves the same protections under the grand jury system as any other citizen. Same things goes about the leaked positive test result. If the players agreed to the test with the understanding that the first positive would remain secret then someone broke that agreement.
It IS a 1st amendment issue. We have many law enforcement agencies whose job it is to enforce the law. Said law enforcement agencies should investigate the courthouse, jurors, etc to find the leaker. That is not the job of reporters, they are not cops. The prosecution based on reporters' writings are due to the fact that they documented that someone broke a law. Investigative reporting would be greatly diminished if such confidentiality where to be wiped away.
