Press freedom advocates are raising the alarm that the arrest of the Atmore News’s publisher and reporter is unconstitutional
A newspaper publisher and a reporter have been arrested for publishing an article that officials said was based on confidential grand-jury evidence — a move that press-freedom advocates are characterizing as an unconstitutional attack on the news media.
He said the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the First Amendment forbids punishing journalists for publishing information of public importance, even if the information came from a source who broke the law in leaking it. “And that applies to grand-jury information,” he said. Such prosecutions can be costly, especially for small news organizations, she said. They also serve as “a dead crow on a fence,” a warning to would-be leakers and other journalists that they will face legal jeopardy if they disclose secret or sensitive information or pursue aggressive investigations.on the Marion County Record.
The attorney, who represents both Digmon and Fletcher, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Nor did Billy.
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