Thursday, March 20, 2003
A SPECIAL KIND OF FREE SPEECH
Our Camera-Shy Supreme Court Justice
I see from this morning's paper that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is still having difficulty accepting the basic premise underlying our notions of free speech and a free press.
The Associated Press reports ("Scalia Bars Taping of Free-Speech Award," by Paul Singer):
Scalia banned broadcast media from taping a speech he made [in Cleveland] yesterday upon receiving an award for supporting free speech.
Scalia did not mention the ban, which he had insisted upon, and television reporters were allowed to see him accept the City Club's Citadel of Free Speech Award before his remarks. The justice did not take any questions from reporters.
The ban on broadcast media "begs disbelief and seems to be in conflict with the award itself," Terry Murphy, C-SPAN vice president and executive producer, wrote last week to the City Club. "How free is speech if there are limits to its distribution?"…
Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association in Washington, criticized the ban…."The irony of excluding journalists from an event designed to celebrate the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech is obvious to all," she wrote yesterday.
Award committee chairman Richard Pogue said Scalia earned the award because he is a staunch defender of First Amendment rights, citing Texas v. Johnson in which the court overturned the Texas conviction of a man who burned a flag during a 1984 demonstration.
During his speech in Cleveland yesterday, Scalia expressed his purportedly enthusiastic support for free speech with these words:
"Trust me, I did not like to not put Mr. Johnson in jail -- bearded, scruffy, sandal-wearing guy burning the American flag, you know, it made me furious. But I was handcuffed, I couldn't help it; that's my understanding of the First Amendment. I can't do the nasty things I'd like to do."
Damn Bill of Rights, gets in the way of all the really big right-wing fun, doesn't it?
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JAMES MARTIN CAPOZZOLA
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James Martin (Jim) Capozzola launched The Rittenhouse Review in April 2002, TRR: The Lighter Side of Rittenhouse, HorowitzWatch, and Smarter Andrew Sullivan in July 2002, and Bulldogs for Kerry-Edwards in October 2004. He is also a contributing member of President Boxer.
He received the 2002 Koufax Award for Best Post> for "Al Gore and the Alpha Girls" (published November 25, 2002). Capozzola's record in the Koufax Awards includes two additional nominations for 2002 (Best Blog and Best Writing), three nominations for 2003 (Best Blog, Best Series, and Best Writing), and two finalist nominations in 2004 (Best Blog and Best Writing).
Capozzola’s experience beyond the blogosphere includes a lengthy career in financial journalism, securities analysis, and investment research, and in freelance writing, editing, ghost-writing, and writing instruction.
He earned his bachelor's degree in political science from the University at Albany and a master's in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia.
Capozzola lives in Philadelphia with his bulldog, Mildred.
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