- R.I.P at 91 Nat Hentoff, magnificent cultural figure, champion of free speech and civil liberties [Tim Lynch; Cato biography page with links to commentaries; related YouTube playlist; his last Village Voice column; trailer on documentary; large archive at Unz.org including work for Inquiry; remembered by free speech expert Ronald K.L. Collins, with many links]
- “Self-Proclaimed Inventor of Email Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Techdirt’s Mike Masnick” [THR, Esq./Hollywood Reporter; “the latest case from attorney Charles Harder, who previously represented Hulk Hogan against Gawker”]
- In the mail: Paul Cliteur and Tom Herrenberg, eds., The Fall and Rise of Blasphemy Law [Leiden University Press]
- On porn, some GOP lawmakers favor wacky litigation theories; others, a nanny state approach [Elizabeth Nolan Brown (Utah proposal), A. Barton Hinkle (Virginia)]
- The most damaging way for Trump to attack the press could be the one Obama has already laid out, namely pursuit of leaks and leakers [Peter Sterne/Politico, Mike Masnick/TechDirt] Mark Feb. 3 on calendar for Cato panel on free speech under Trump with Flemming Rose, Frank Buckley, Robert Corn-Revere; earlier Cato panel with Rose and Nick Gillespie on free speech in age of Trump now online; related on Trump’s antagonism toward critics from Jacob Sullum, Eugene Volokh;
- If Euro-style hate speech law ever sneaks into U.S., enactments like Louisiana’s Blue Lives Matter law may show the way [Scott Shackford, Reason; earlier]
Filed under: Barack Obama, Cato Institute, Donald Trump, free speech, hate speech
2 Comments
Why is the pursuit of leaks and leakers an attack on the press? Or does Freedom of the Press Trump [intentional] espionage laws and confidentiality requirements?
If the Rosenbergs, e.g., had passed on classified information to Pravda, would prosecuting them have been an attack on the press?
Or if an attorney leaks privileged information to, say, Breitbart, would that be an attack on the press?
There is one case in American history where a newspaper made a thinly veiled leak of a critical secret in the middle of World War II. I believe that FDR got it right and the grand jury which refused to indict the Chicago Tribune got it wrong although you could certainly argue that the refusal to charge the paper may have saved the secret from being learned by Japan. I do find the tone of the Tribune’s article 74 years later about this to be precisely the tone deaf arrogance which undermines public support for special privileges for the press.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-battle-midway-japan-war-code-tribune-roosevelt-edit-0924-md-20160922-story.html