scalia's america
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia apparently does not like being quoted, abhors TV cameras and goes so far as to ban recordings of his public speeches. A deputy US marshal forcefully erased the recording of Scalia's speech made by two reporters at the Presbyterian Christian High School in Mississippi. The deputy's superior defended her actions saying they were merely enforcing the Justice's wishes,

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said Thursday that the deputy violated the law and "the fundamental tenets of press freedom."

But Flowers defended the deputy's actions.

"The justice informed us he did not want any recordings of his speech and remarks and when we discovered that one, or possibly two, reporters were in fact recording, she took action," Flowers told The Associated Press.

"Even with hindsight, I can't think of what other steps she could have done," Flowers said.

via here

Scalia, however, chickens out (ducks?) in his apology,

In his letter, Justice Scalia said he did not have the power to "direct security personnel not to confiscate recordings."

"Security personnel, both those of the institutions at which I speak, and the United States marshals, do not operate at my direction," he wrote, "but I shall certainly express that as my preference."

via here

posted by ubaid - Monday, April 12, 2004 at 8:04 PM - 0 comments - post anonymously