The \"feds\" have admitted they admitted they broke the law. The government conceded that the U.S. Marshall Service violated federal law when a marshal ordered reporters with the Associated Press and the Hattiesburg American to erase their recordings of a speech by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
During an April 7 speech at a high school in Hattiesburg, Miss., a marshal demanded that the reporters erase recordings of the justice\'s remarks. Scalia, who had been speaking about the Constitution, later apologized for the incident. He said he would make it clear in the future that recording his remarks for the use of the print media would not be a problem.
Indeed, there shouldn\'t be a problem with recording the remarks of a public figure made in public. And the Justice Department now says the reporters and their employers are each entitled to $1,000 in damages and reasonable attorneys\' fees, which had been sought by the media organizations.
The feds should do something else as well. They should require all marshals to read the First Amendment and learn about freedom of the press.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.