Two reporters ordered to erase tapes while covering Scalia speech

[Purveyor]

(04-07) 17:16 PDT HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) --

Two reporters were ordered Wednesday to erase their tape recordings of a speech by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at a Mississippi high school.

<snip>

During the speech, a woman identifying herself as a deputy federal marshal demanded that a reporter for The Associated Press erase a tape recording of the justice's comments. She said the justice had asked that his appearance not be recorded.

The reporter initially resisted, but later showed the deputy how to erase the digital recording after the officer took the device from her hands. The exchange occurred in the front row of the auditorium while Scalia delivered his speech about the Constitution.

<snip>

Link to entire AP article

[bobbieinok]

1. don't want to let Scalia's views get any publicity

[fearnobush]

6. Not surprising coming from the Judge, juror, and executioner of

what we once used to call an election.

[saigon68]

26. Except to say he is one scary out of control human being

He could be compared to a Tasmanian Devil thoough, if a sheep gets near one of these creatures only the plastic ear tag is left. They will even eat the hoofs of cattle.

[KissMyAsscroft]

2. I say fuck them.

I wouldn't have erased a damn thing.

[w13rd0]

5. digital recorder with

SD backup, wireless upload...

watch the watchers

[shanti]

32. ahhhhh

the joys of modern technology!

[benfranklin1776]

33. Neither would I.

Every time people cave to such brazen trampling of their rights emboldens them to go further.

[tom_paine]

50. I'm with you, Ben! Part of me (a small but aggressive part) wants to

be confronted by these Bushevik Scum!

One can never be certain whether or not how one will behave in "Crunch Time" sitautions, but I hope it would be as imagined.

I've always wanted to tell some Totalitarian to "Fuck off!", like a Nazi bastard or a Soviet Commie Punk. While Bushevik Swine are not (YET) as bad as either of those two, they would have to do.

God only knows what that Monster Fat Tony Scalia said to those youths as he was preparing for them to be the FIRST generation of Amerikan Imperial Slaves!

He was probably wise, the Totalitarian Piece of Shit, to make sure no one ever heard what he told those Bushevik Slaves of the Future.

And you are correct in that is is LONG past due to tell these Bushevik Orwellian Totalitarian Tyrants a LOUD "NO! FUCK, NO!!!!"

[struggle4progress]

3. Gutless reporter ?

Following what precedent does a reporter comply with a request like this?

[MSgt213]

15. They are following the lead of Fox and CNN the Passion of the gutless

[Media_Lies_Daily]

20. Who wants to end up dead in an "accident"? Don't forget who we're...

...dealing with.

[fla nocount]

39. They're not reporters anymore.........

they're bible-thumpin, homophobic, neo-conservative journalism majors now, trying to work off their college loans. Get with the program...please. Don't you know who Leo Strauss is for krist sake.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. the tape was censored "while Scalia delivered his speech about the

Constitution"

I swear, I'm not making this up!

[benfranklin1776]

31. It is indeed a dark travesty.

This is just too rich to behold.
From the article:

"Scalia, who was appointed to the bench by
President Reagan in 1986, told students that the
Constitution's true meaning must always be
protected."

Indeed Antonin it must be protected, from small minded, bootlicking, petty mandarins like you who trash it with every stroke of your judicial pen and who mockingly trample the sacred freedoms that document protects with naked displays of unbridled ego-driven tryanny such as this. Did you ever bother to read the First Amendment Tony, as your behavior here strongly indicates need for remedial instruction in freedom of the press? Note Tony it is Freedom OF the PRESS not freedom to suppress.

"The Constitution of the United States is
extraordinary and amazing. People just don't
revere it like they used to," Scalia told a full
auditorium of high school students, officials,
religious leaders.

He said he spends most of his time thinking about
the Constitution, calling it "a brilliant piece of
work."

No Tony, We the People revere the Constitution's brilliance and recognize its vital role in protecting us from authoritarianism. It is people like you, who spend their time and careers busily thinking of new and better ways to thwart the provisions in it that protect the people, that are the ones undermining its legacy.

[DrWeird]

7. It can be recovered, can't it?

It's not like something goes away when you hit delete. I wonder what Scalia said.

[BattyDem]

25. I bet the reporter has already contacted ...

a data recovery firm.

[LiberalFighter]

55. I hope so... would love to smack that scum

[reprehensor]

8. Quack, quack. n/t

[fearnobush]

9. Scalia = the age of our new Demockery.

"Last year, Scalia was criticized for refusing to allow television and radio coverage of an event in Ohio in which he received an award for supporting free speech."

[Art_from_Ark]

12. So who gave him the award for "free speech"?

The Censors Association of America?

[Purrfessor]

10. A suggestion for Scalia:

Why stop at barring cameras and audio recorders? Why not simply ban the audience and give his speeches to empty auditoriums?

[BR_Parkway]

44. Or stop making speeches n/t

[Laughing Mirror]

11. Scalia can "ask" all he want, but that does not make it law

People have got to start resisting these mobsters in charge, resisting and fighting back. It is the only solution at this point.

[maggrwaggr]

21. If scalia didn't like it, he didn't have to talk

he could have shut the hell up if he didn't want his precious voice to be recorded.

Fuck this guy!

[Muddleoftheroad]

29. If it is the rule of the event

And a reporter violates it, then the reporter can be barred from all future events, coverage, etc. It is much the same as violating an embargo and the reporter's actions could have devasting repurcussions for his/her news outlet.

That said, I wouldn't have surrendered the data and would have immediately called my editor to contact the lawyers.

[PartyPooper]

13. Nixon redux!

[JohnOneillsMemory]

14. The anti-democracy judge. See my sig. quote. n/t

[markses]

16. Doesn't like precedent, doesn't like recordings

Doesn't like the light of day, like most cockroaches.

[leesa]

17. Interesting. What does the fascist not want us to hear about his

interpretation of the constitution? He might have to take those reporters out "duck hunting" with them as the quarry.

[harrison]

18. This is absolutely outrageous. Just another example of these

evil hypocrites. Good God Amighty.

[Rex]

19. Scalia = traitor

Just like his buddy Bush.

Rot in Hell you turncoat!

[RainDog]

22. Here's a Scalia speech

please take the time to read the whole thing, and then worry about Bush's ability to appoint more and more theocrats to the Supreme Court if he wins a second term.


http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0205/articles/sca...

God’s Justice and Ours
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Antonin Scalia

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright (c) 2002 First Things 123 (May 2002): 17-21.

Before proceeding to discuss the morality of capital punishment, I want to make clear that my views on the subject have nothing to do with how I vote in capital cases that come before the Supreme Court. That statement would not be true if I subscribed to the conventional fallacy that the Constitution is a “living document”—that is, a text that means from age to age whatever the society (or perhaps the Court) thinks it ought to mean. (cut for copyright)... As a Roman Catholic—and being unable to jump out of my skin—I cannot discuss that issue without reference to Christian tradition and the Church’s Magisterium.

(here he quotes Paul about killing people...deleted to comply with copyright restrictions)

These passages from Romans represent the consensus of Western thought until very recent times. Not just of Christian or religious thought, but of secular thought regarding the powers of the state. That consensus has been upset, I think, by the emergence of democracy. It is easy to see the hand of the Almighty behind rulers whose forebears, in the dim mists of history, were supposedly anointed by God, or who at least obtained their thrones in awful and unpredictable battles whose outcome was determined by the Lord of Hosts, that is, the Lord of Armies. It is much more difficult to see the hand of God—or any higher moral authority—behind the fools and rogues (as the losers would have it) whom we ourselves elect to do our own will. How can their power to avenge—to vindicate the “public order”—be any greater than our own?

So it is no accident, I think, that the modern view that the death penalty is immoral is centered in the West. That has little to do with the fact that the West has a Christian tradition, and everything to do with the fact that the West is the home of democracy. Indeed, it seems to me that the more Christian a country is the less likely it is to regard the death penalty as immoral. Abolition has taken its firmest hold in post–Christian Europe, and has least support in the church–going United States. I attribute that to the fact that, for the believing Christian, death is no big deal. Intentionally killing an innocent person is a big deal: it is a grave sin, which causes one to lose his soul. But losing this life, in exchange for the next? The Christian attitude is reflected in the words Robert Bolt’s play has Thomas More saying to the headsman: “Friend, be not afraid of your office. You send me to God.” And when Cranmer asks whether he is sure of that, More replies, “He will not refuse one who is so blithe to go to Him.” For the nonbeliever, on the other hand, to deprive a man of his life is to end his existence. What a horrible act!

Besides being less likely to regard death as an utterly cataclysmic punishment, the Christian is also more likely to regard punishment in general as deserved. The doctrine of free will—the ability of man to resist temptations to evil, which God will not permit beyond man’s capacity to resist—is central to the Christian doctrine of salvation and damnation, heaven and hell. The post–Freudian secularist, on the other hand, is more inclined to think that people are what their history and circumstances have made them, and there is little sense in assigning blame.

[kera]

58. his speech makes execution or death penalty

sound like a rapture , I would assume he must be eager to go meet with HIM now himself

his reasoning is typical to intellectually dishonest people it is amazing how so universally, by trying to force the dosage of persuasion on students, he just forgot he was talking about death

he reminds me of a religious Fundy once while survivors from a destructive earth-quack still in chock , was bashing from the comfort of TV studio , survivors for deserting their houses and spending the night in the street, telling them that they should be happy to meet their death in the rubbles because this would hasten their appointment with God . and by trying to scape this wonderful prospect, they were showing their disregard for god

I still vividly remember this speech which had been though recorded in studio although not by reporters because at the time they were under the rubbles

[Zhade]

59. Lord willing, Scalia may meet "Him" soon.

Through completely natural causes, of course.

[justjones]

23. Talking to a high school yet won't let the public know what he said. WTF?

[rfkrocks]

24. I'm missing something here-

You are a supreme court justice-you salary is paid for by the citizens you are supposed to serve-you give a public speech-your words are recorded and you get a federal law enforcement person to take a reporter's tape recorder so as to destroy a recording of what you said-you could have turned down the event if you don't want to speak-it is not a requirement of your job-what the hell is going on here? This cannot be legal! Also Scalia speaking to high school kids must be a treat-kinda of like Judge Smeals in Caddyshack-

[Blasphemer]

27. Despicable...

And this man wants to be Chief Justice of the SCOTUS? I can only imagine what was in that speech. Under the cover of darkness, he wants to undermine the law of the land and corrupt our youth.

[orthogonal]

28. Jawohl!

Since when is it the job of a deputy federal marshal to enforce the personal wishes of a federal official?

What the reporter was doing wasn't illegal.

What would the marshal's response have been if the reporter had refused? Arrest? Guantanamo?

Although, in sympathy, I understand the motivation behind this: it's so much easier to stuff things down the memory hole if no recordings exist.

[shanti]

34. ok

is somebody going to go out on a limb and do this again, but this time, not relinquish the recorder? i want to see to what lengths these clowns will go. the veil is being ripped away.

[truthspeaker]

48. better yet, use a hidden recorder

I think reporters need to start acting more like spies. The technology to do so is cheaper than ever.

[amber dog democrat]

30. What is he afraid of?

Being held accountable for what he says?

[Enraged_Ape]

57. That his voice doesn't show up on tape

Sort of the way that Dracula doesn't photograph.

[wabeewoman]

35. Interesting line....

told students that the
Constitution's true meaning must always be
protected." And I'm sure he is the only one who knows the true meaning.

[PragMantisT]

36. If he doesn't want to be recorded in a public place,

do it surreptitiously.

Some kid in high school, knowing that recording is prohibited, was bound to flaunt authority and record it.

I know I never recorded a Van Halen concert I attended.

[teryang]

43. Van Halen is copyright protected

I don't think a public official speaking at a public function is.

I've noticed public schools becoming dictatorial about this. If my daughter performs at a public school, I am not permitted to record it. I must pay $27.95 for a copy of the official video. They use the school police officer to enforce this no pictures rule. I can understand why they don't want flashes during a performance but what is wrong with snapshots with no flash?

I don't think the government gets the copyright to the children's public performance on public property. But they do and they use the police to enforce it. I think the choreographer who is paid both by the parents and the state has no copyright as a hired agent.

[Judi Lynn]

37. He surely sounds a little strange.....

"The Constitution of the United States is extraordinary and amazing. People just don't revere it like they used to," Scalia told a full auditorium of high school students, officials, religious leaders.

He said he spends most of his time thinking about the Constitution, calling it "a brilliant piece of work."


I wonder if he spent most of his time shooting with Dick Cheney thinking about the Constitution.

From the speeches he made before he became so publicity shy:


Maybe he's worried that he says things which become contradicted by the way he lives, and he doesn't want it on tape. Maybe he's worried that he sounds melodramatic and stupid. Maybe he's worried he's unphotogenic.

[yardwork]

52. Well, he is unphotogenic, and it looks like he's gained a lot of weight...

I would think a Supreme Court Justice would have more self-confidence.

[Eric J in MN]

38. For people wondering about Scalia's motivation, I've heard that he

For people wondering about Scalia's motivation, I've heard that he gives the same speech over-and-over, and figures that as long as it isn't recorded, no one will mind.

[Blue_Tires]

40. Clarence Thomas did the same thing!!

back in 99 or 2000 he came to speak at the law school at the University of Kansas...I was working at the school paper at the time, and Thomas' people said under no circumstances was he going to answer any questions to the media...and we were all like, WTF?!?!

[Democat]

41. Right wing media assholes allow right wing judge to run over them

What a bunch of right wing ass kissing reporters.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

42. "People just don't revere it (The Constitution) like they used to,"

No kiddin'?

Especially the bit about freedom of the press...

[wicket]

45. kick!

[hiphopnation]

46. Brownshirts on parade. n/t

[gottaB]

47. As it happens, the Constitution provides a mechanism

for kicking his butt to the curb.

Impeach Scalia

[BlueEyedSon]

49. WTF?!?!? *kick*

[KamaAina]

51. I'd nominate him for Top Ten Conservative Idiots, except...

the vile slimeball belongs in the Top Ten Fascist Idiots!!!

[indypaul]

53. Once Again Sieg Hiel n/t

[young_at_heart]

54. Isn't he a "public servant"?

Why all the secrecy?

[Bozita]

56. Olbermann BLISTERS Scalia on feature on MSNBC's Countdown

Keith really ripped him.

Jonathan Turley agreed.

[DavidFL]

60. I heard Scalia speak in person when I was in grad school

Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing cameras or tape recorders being in the auditorium. But I'm sure his speech to us and to this high school is nothing like the ones he gives to the Federalist Society. He pretty much spent a lot of time discussing the history of the Constitution and the Federalist Papers and complained that the latter work is not required reading in schools anymore and encouraged everyone to read them. He then took questions at the end and the only "controversial" one he was asked was his opinion on affirmative action.

[mobuto]

61. He's a brilliant man

an evil, brilliant man, but brilliant nonetheless.

[ImperialPolkDemocrat]

62. A Slap In The Face To The First Amendment He Claims To Respect

Scalia is such a hypocrite, it isn't even funny.

Being from Hattiesburg, I can guess that Scalia probably felt that the media would be simply a small group of small market lackeys fresh out of college that would pack out and move out on orders. Little did he realize that there would be an AP reporter present, and that the Hattiesburg American is owned by Gannett, which also owns the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, the state's largest newspaper. Stories from the Pine Belt area written for the American of regional or statewide interest often also appear in the C-L. The local television station, NBC affiliate WDAM, was booted by Scalia, but they are filled with kids just out of the University of Southern Mississippi's broadcasting and journalism programs and likely didn't raise a stink being young and naive. Besides, the station GM is a conserative Christian Republican...the story isn't even on their Web site.

[ImperialPolkDemocrat]

63. Top US Marhall In MS Defends Deputy's Action

But he says the incident could have been handled a little better.

Hey, just because he's a Justice of the SCOTUS does'nt make him any different from any other public official. When he accepts an invitation to speak at a public event, he should expect to be recorded and photographed by the media. If he doesn't want the attention, become a recluse and retire.

From this morning's Hattiesburg American:
<http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/news/stories/2004041... >