FC: Miami Herald reports Florida cops knew law is unconstitutional

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Thanks to Google's cache, I've read some articles by Dennis Cooper, the 
editor and publisher of "Key West The Newspaper" who was arrested last 
week. Without the backing of a major corporation and relying only on his 
own wits, reporting skills, and news judgement, Cooper has served as a 
voice of the community and a gadfly to the local political establishment. 
He's doing the kind of investigative writing that more of us big-city 
journalists should be doing, and it's no surprise that the local politicos 
and cops want to shut him up. PS: The Miami Herald misspelled the name of a 
federal judge. The correct spelling is William Zloch, in case you want to 
look up his opinion. --Declan]

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Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 23:32:23 -0400
From: "Rick G. Karr" <neuunit () earthlink net>
To: declan () well com
Subject: Re: FC: Police arrest newspaper editor for criticizing Florida cops

Declan --

This story is available from the Miami Herald at:

http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/local/keys/digdocs/028180.htm

(Link from Jim Romanesko's MediaNews: http://www.poynter.org/medianews)

The governing statute has apparently been ruled unconstitutional several
times. Question is, why is it still on the books?

--
Rick Karr
Cultural Correspondent
National Public Radio News

*********

Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 22:57:49 -0700
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
From: John Young <jya () pipeline com>
Subject: Re: Police arrest newspaper editor for criticizing Florida cops
Cc: Office () KWTN com, postmaster () KWTN com, SSolares () keywestcity com,
        Attorney () keywestcity com, JAvael () keywestcity com,
        BDillon () keywestcity com, JWeekley () keywestcity com,
        TomO () oosterbooster com, merilimccoy () compuserve com, cpcjr () webtv net,
        HBethel () keywestcity com, JAnthony () keywestcity com, carmenturn () aol com,
        emc () artifact psychedelic net, cypherpunks () cyberpass net
In-Reply-To: <5.0.2.1.0.20010626214305.024b95a0 () mail well com>

Declan,

We will publish the informative articles on our site cryptome.org
when they arrive.

John Young
Cryptome.org

*********

Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 22:23:13 -0700
From: Anthony Mournian <mournian () acusd edu>
To: declan () well com
CC: politech () politechbot com, Office () KWTN com, postmaster () KWTN com,
        SSolares () keywestcity com, Attorney () keywestcity com,
        JAvael () keywestcity com, BDillon () keywestcity com,
        JWeekley () keywestcity com, TomO () oosterbooster com,
        merilimccoy () compuserve com, cpcjr () webtv net, HBethel () keywestcity com,
        JAnthony () keywestcity com, carmenturn () aol com,
        emc () artifact psychedelic net, cypherpunks () cyberpass net
Subject: Re: FC: Police arrest newspaper editor for criticizing Florida cops
References: <5.0.2.1.0.20010626214305.024b95a0 () mail well com>

Dear Mayor of Key West, and dear Chief of Police of Key West,

I'm not a journalist, just an ordinary, run of the mill US Citizen, and
I am wondering what the cowboys are doing in Florida!

I am amazed, but ill impressed at the actions reported by on-line
journalist Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>. Your town lies 90 miles
north of a Communist dictatorship, but it would seem to have been swept
south by ill winds of fear and paranoia.

If there is a RIGHT which Americans take seriously, hold near, and very
dear, it is the First Amendment right of Freedom of the Press. For
Shame, Key West, for actions as brutish as Tienaman Square! Your arrest
of Dennis Cooper reflects either fear of exposure of worse wrongs than
Cooper has reported, or a total lack of understanding or respect for the
US Constitution. In light of the recent election results coming out of
Florida, I suspect it is a combination of the two.

Anthony Mournian
San Diego, California

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