Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 02:42:29 -0400
To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
Subject: SPJ News: Justice Department levels second assault on First
 Amendment Rights
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

Date:  Wed, 29 Aug 2001
From: Julie Grimes <jgrimes@SPJ.ORG>
Subject:      SPJ News: Justice Department levels second assault on 
First Amendment Rights


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jim Gray, SPJ executive director, (317) 927-8000 Ext. 220
Ray Marcano, SPJ president, (937) 225-2323

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LEVELS SECOND ASSAULT
ON FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS

INDIANAPOLIS - The subpoena of a reporter's home telephone records by the
U.S. Justice Department is the latest assault on First Amendment rights,
according to the Society of Professional Journalists.

This latest attack comes just weeks after the Department succeeded in
imprisoning an investigative writer in Houston on contempt charges.

Justice Department investigators subpoenaed the home telephone records of
Associated Press reporter John Solomon, demanding incoming and outgoing
calls during a five-day period in which Solomon investigated and reported
on New Jersey Senator Robert Torricelli's 1996 campaign.

In addition, the Justice Department subpoenaed the bookstore purchase
records of eight people, including those of Torricelli and an individual
purported to be a central witness in the investigation.

These latest attacks on the rights and freedoms of people working in the
media come just weeks after Vanessa Leggett, a Houston writer investigating
an infamous society murder, was jailed for her refusal to comply with an
order to disclose to a grand jury years worth of research.

"This is another instance in which the Justice Department has shown
tremendous disregard for its own policies and the First Amendment," said
Ray Marcano, president of the Society of Professional Journalists and an
assistant managing editor of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News. "The Justice
Department must immediately stop its attempts at threatening and
intimidating journalists and writers. Someone at Justice needs to be held
accountable for these outrageous acts."

Media advocates are also concerned because Justice has refused detailed
comment on Leggett's jailing and the Solomon subpoena.

"Given these recent events, the Justice Department needs to come forward to
say exactly what it is doing and why," said Bruce Brown, SPJ First
Amendment legal counsel at Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C.  "Part of
what has been so frustrating is the Department's refusal to comment on
these matters of such importance to the media."

As a result of the Department's reluctance to comment, coupled with the
Solomon subpoena and the Leggett jailing, SPJ is concerned that Attorney
General John Ashcroft may be reversing years of policy and targeting
journalists simply for doing their jobs.

"If events of these past few weeks are an indication of how the
Bush/Ashcroft Justice Department regards the work of journalists, we're in
for a long four years," said Ian Marquand, who chairs SPJ's Freedom of
Information Committee. Marquand is also special projects coordinator at
KPAX-TV in Missoula, Montana. "No journalist is above the law, but federal
authorities should recognize that journalists play a special role in our
society and deserve respect," Marquand added. "To use journalists to get at
alleged lawbreakers isn't right and to subject journalists to the same
investigative tactics used against the criminal element is an outrage."

-30-
The Society of Professional Journalists works to improve and protect
journalism. The organization is the nation's largest and most broad-based
journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of
journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior. Founded in
1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to
a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation
of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of
speech and press.


Julie Grimes, Deputy Director
Society of Professional Journalists
3909 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46208
(317) 927-8000 ext. 216 ~ Fax: 317/920-4789
jgrimes@spj.org ~ www.spj.org



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