The Chilling First Amendment Implications of Journalist Barrett Brown's Five-Year Sentence

[marmar]

The Chilling First Amendment Implications of Journalist Barrett Brown's Five-Year Sentence

Friday, 23 January 2015 12:17
By Candice Bernd, Truthout | News Analysis


Barrett Brown, dressed in a bright yellow prison jumpsuit, gave a quick, approving nod to the writer who shouted, "Stay strong, Barrett!" in a Dallas courtroom Thursday, just after a federal judge sentenced the 33-year-old journalist and transparency activist to 63 months in prison on three federal charges, in a case which has chilling implications for journalists and researchers across the US.

Some would argue the reporter who called out to Brown crossed the blurry line between journalistic observer and active participant. But her gesture of solidarity serves as a fitting illustration of a couple of the key questions raised in a case which has lingered for more than two years before finally coming to a close Thursday: Who is "really" a journalist, and what constitutes crossing that increasingly precarious line?

It's an issue even I encountered, in a small way, on my way into the courtroom, as the security guard on the 15th floor of the Earle Cable Federal Building looked me over tentatively, shifting his eyes down toward the plastic press badge I wore around my neck.

"What's that?" he asked. "My press badge," I responded. "Even I could make something like that at home," he said, skeptically. My smile softened. I offered no response, instead handing over my jacket and notebook to be scanned. But the implications of his comment were clear enough - much like the implications of Brown's sentencing. The distinction of a being a "real" journalist is bestowed by those in power. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/28699-the-chilling-first-amendment-implications-of-journalist-barrett-brown-s-five-year-sentence

[merrily]

1. No good can come to us from govt trying to define terms like "publisher" and "journalist."

We've seen some shocking things in that regard, from spying on at least one journalist (that we know of) to find out his source to cutting off donations to wikileaks, to attempting to legislate said definitions (sarcastic tip o' the hat to Difi for cooperating with the last bit).

Shocking things re: the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment and a number of other provisions of the Bill of Rights since 911. And not many seem to mind.

[elias49]

2. All I can say is: "Stay away Edward Snowden

You'll never get justice in this town"

[Historic NY]

3. Don't you think it was more about his attitude....

"I didn't get into this business to stay in prison, I got into this business to destroy the government, and that's been accomplished,"Brown told Truthout from Kaufman County Jail

He is lucky he didn't get more time, he took a plea bargain. If he felt so strong in his position that the government didn't have a case, why not have a trial.

[TheKentuckian]

4. We have sentences for attitude? If so matters are worse than presented.

[sabrina 1]

5. Wait. What happened to all the free speech 'no matter how vile' advocates who were all over the

place just a week or so ago? I knew then it was all so hypocritical and watching this travesty unfold when those advocating for the 1st Amendment had not a word to say about this case.

If you are correct and he went to jail for SPEECH then this forum should be as filled with OPs expressing outrage as they were back then.

The fact is he DID go to jail for speech. But the free speech advocates seem to have all but disappeared.

He dared to expose the toxic behavior of some of our 'Private Security Contractors', Stratfor eg, and in any nation where there is respect for exposing government and or its agencies' corruption and misuse of power, what he exposed should be a topic of conversation in Congress right now.

Some day maybe, this country will begin the process of restoring the rule of law for those in power and stop incarcerating Whistle Blowers and journalists and protesters while looking the other way from War and Wall St criminals.

This case removes the right for this country to point fingers anywhere else when it comes to free speech.

And the people of this should be up in arms over it.

[Octafish]

6. Wikileaks Release Suggests Stratfor Inside Info Plan with Goldman Sachs Exec

By Ryan Villarreal: Subscribe to Ryan's RSS feed
IBTimes.com
February 27, 2012 6:26 PM EST

WikiLeaks released more than 5 million e-mails Monday hacked from U.S.-based global intelligence firm Strategy Forecasting Inc. (Stratfor), revealing an alleged plan between the firm's CEO and a Goldman Sachs executive to set up an investment fund that would rely on inside information gathered by the company.

A September 2011 company-wide e-mail composed by Stratfor CEO George Friedman indicates that Goldman Sachs financial adviser and former Managing Director Shea Morenz was directly involved in the establishment of the investment fund StratCap.

"Shea Morenz provided us with two opportunities," wrote Friedman.

"First, he made an investment in Stratfor designed to give us the capital needed to build our staff and our marketing. Second, he proposed a new venture, StratCap, which would allow us to utilize the intelligence we were gathering about the world in a new but related venue -- an investment fund. Where we had previously advised other hedge funds. We would now have our own, itself fully funded by Shea."

CONTINUED...

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/305532/20120227/wikileaks-stratfor-stratcap-goldman-sachs-fund-julian.htm

If money trumps peace, what chance does democracy have?

[elias49]

8. Wow! This should be a separate op. nt

[Octafish]

10. Will do. WikiLeaks exposed the crooks using office to enrich themselves and their cronies.

WikiLeaks also showed to what extent the warmongers use their office to do the same.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Feel like doing that as an OP,????

Really needs to be seen a lot more.

And if one person/bank came up with that idea, you can bet others have, may have already.

[Octafish]

11. I believe you are correct. Carlyle Group owns Booz Allen...NSA's go-to privatizer of Intel.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026131945

[tammywammy]

7. He pled guilty to three charges.

He was sentenced "to 48 months on one count of threatening an FBI officer, 12 months on one count of "accessory after the fact" and three months on one count of obstruction."

It was a plea bargain. If he felt the accessory & obstruction charges were going too far why did he plead guilty to it?

The bulk of his sentence was for threatening a FBI agent and his family. These articles keep referencing 5 years when 48 months was for the threat alone.

[Oilwellian]

12. This part was interesting

"The thing between me and LulzSec, and AntiSec is that I never got along with any of those people because they wanted something different than what I did," Brown told Truthout.

In chat logs that were allegedly withheld in the government's submission of evidence last month, AntiSec hackers plotted to blame Brown for stealing the credit card information in order to fuel his drug habit.

"The fact that the government had that, and it pertains to me being framed on fraud charges for credit card numbers, it's pretty pertinent to my case, in which, of course, I was hit with credit card fraud charges - especially when you look at it in the context of HBGary, which tried to set up people on fraud charges," Brown told Truthout. "There was one party that was in a position to stop these credit card numbers from being used, and that was the FBI, and they failed to do so."

The irony of Barrett Brown being charged on trumped up fraud charges, for investigating our government's involvement with private contractors who conspire to set innocent people up on trumped up fraud charges, is not to be missed here.

[ND-Dem]

13. k&r