Justice Department Censors Supreme Court Quote

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
Date: August 29, 2004 7:26:06 AM EDT
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Justice Department Censors Supreme Court Quote

Source:
http://www.thememoryhole.org/feds/justice_redaction.htm

The Justice Department tipped its hand in its ongoing legal war with the
ACLU over the Patriot Act. Because the matter is so sensitive, the 
Justice
Dept is allowed to black out those passages in the ACLU's court filings 
that
it feels should not be publicly released.

Ostensibly, they would use their powers of censorship only to remove
material that truly could jeopardize US operations. But in reality, 
what did
they do? They blacked out a quotation from a Supreme Court decision:

    "The danger to political dissent is acute where the Government 
attempts
to act under so vague a concept as the power to protect 'domestic 
security.'
Given the difficulty of defining the domestic security interest, the 
danger
of abuse in acting to protect that interest becomes apparent."

It's hard to imagine a more public, open document than a decision 
written by
the Supreme Court. It is incontestably public property: widely reprinted
online and on paper; poured over by generations of judges, attorneys,
prosecutors, and law students; quoted for centuries to come in court 
cases
and political essays.

Yet the Justice Department had the incomprehensible arrogance and gall 
to
strip this quotation from a court document, as if it represented a grave
threat to the republic. Luckily, the court slapped down this redaction 
and
several others. If it hadn't, we would've been left with the impression 
that
this was a legitimate redaction, that whatever was underneath the thick
black ink was something so incredibly sensitive and damaging that it 
must be
kept from our eyes.

< snip >

http://www.thememoryhole.org/feds/justice_redaction.htm

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