American Politics Journal

This is Not America. Not Anymore.
by Tamara Baker

July 28, 2001 -- SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA (APJP) -- My old friend, the New Mexican Wonder, sent me the following news story from USA Today, of all places.

Warning: This story will chill the blood of any right-thinking American who reads it. Proceed with caution.

Ashcroft may reverse policy that protects journalists
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
The case of a reporter jailed Friday for refusing to give her research to federal prosecutors has raised concerns that Attorney General John Ashcroft is reversing a policy that gives journalists wide latitude in protecting confidential sources and unpublished information.
At the Justice Department's request, a federal judge jailed freelance writer Vanessa Leggett for refusing to turn over notes, tape recordings and other material made while researching a book on a murder case.
The Justice Department last had a reporter jailed in 1991 when four South Carolina journalists were jailed for eight hours when they refused to testify at a corruption trial of a state senator.
The attorney general has been required since 1973 to personally approve every subpoena issued to a reporter as well as every time the arrest of a reporter is sought.
"This is a darn significant case," said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "It's either an important shift in policy or it shows the U.S. attorney in Houston is ignorant of a Justice Department policy in effect since the Nixon administration."

What makes Ms. Leggett's jailing so sickening is that it was done secretly:

The hearing was closed to the public at the government's request. The transcript remains sealed. Even the name of the judge who sentenced her for contempt of court has not been made public.

Secret hearings. Sealed transcripts. Hooded judges.

This is not America -- not anymore.

This is Stalinist Russia. Or Argentina under the thumb of Peron.

"It's one thing to incarcerate a member of the press for not doing what the government wants. But to do it in secret and threaten to jail (her) lawyer for talking about the details is outrageous," said Mike DeGuerin, Leggett's attorney.
He said the government is seeking all of Leggett's material, including all originals and copies. "This is the worst case of government overreach I've ever seen," DeGuerin said.

Indeed. And all because the lady is trying to investigate a murder case:

Leggett has spent several years researching the April 1997 murder of Doris Angleton. Her husband, Robert Angleton, a millionaire ex-bookie, was acquitted in a state court in August 1998 of hiring his brother to commit the murder.
The brother, Roger Angleton, committed suicide in jail in February 1998, leaving a confession that said he had acted alone. Leggett interviewed Roger Angleton before his suicide.

The truly astonishing thing about this story, ladies and gentlemen, is that we are hearing about it at all. There must still be a few members of the GOPMedia left who remember what it was like to have a conscience, if not a spine.