Press Freedom: U.S. Government now Allowed to Spy on and Prosecute Journalists to “Protect National Security” | Global Research

Press Freedom: U.S. Government now Allowed to Spy on and Prosecute Journalists to “Protect National Security” | Global Research

In an order published by Attorney General Eric Holder on February 27,
the Obama administration granted itself unprecedented powers to spy on
and prosecute journalists. The new policy announcement directly violates
the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides
that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom speech, or of the
press…”

Last year, the administration announced it was preparing a series of
“reforms” after it was caught wiretapping the phone lines of journalists
with the Associated Press. In what has become the standard practice of
the administration, however, the banner of “reform” has been used to
obscure the establishment of the legal foundations for a police state.

Although the administration presents the new protocols as protective
of democratic rights, the content of the order represents a significant
escalation in the attack on freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

As an initial matter, the order is an assertion by the executive
branch that it has the power to regulate itself on pressing
constitutional matters. Under the separation of powers doctrine,
however, the U.S. Constitution proscribes precisely such conduct. If the
executive branch has the right to determine for itself the
constitutionality of its own actions, then presumably the judicial
branch exists simply to rubber stamp the executive’s decisions. This
implies that there are no limits to efforts by the executive to expand
its powers.