It was long ago, in a far off place, that brave soles fought for freedom and liberty.
One of the concerns they had was that the state should not be able to enter their homes without a warrant, arrest them without charges, violate communications between attorney and client, and make one of the few roles in the constitution journalism.
Looking back on the violations of justice that characterized British rule in pre-Constitutional America, it is easy to see the founders' intent in creating the Fifth Amendment. A government's ability to inflict harm on its people, whether by taking their lives, imprisoning them or confiscating their property, was to be checked by due process.
Due process is the only requirement of government that is stated twice in the Constitution, signaling its importance. The Fifth Amendment imposed the due process requirement on the federal government, while the Fourteenth Amendment did the same for the states. Both offer a crucial promise to the people that fair procedures will remain available to challenge government actions. The broader concept of due process goes all the way back to the thirteenth-century Magna Carta.
Do you recall that during the W Bush administration we complained about the roll back of the rule of law in some areas to before the thirteenth century?
I strongly recommend the article and here is a link.
How One Piece of Paper Destroyed Your Right to a Trial
This diary is about the attack on journalists and attorneys which is covered below the orange squiggle.
The attack on journalists has been going on for some time and includes the possible jail time for NY times reporter James Risen for his work on the secret wire tapping of the Bush administration. You may recall that the Bush administration asked/told the NY Times not to publish the story and it could have made a difference in the 2004 presidential election. The story only came out when Risen published a book and NY Times had to scramble to not get bypassed. Since the congress works for the rich, they fixed this legal problem for ATT through legislation that absolved them from guilt for violating the constitution.
The wiretapping of attorney - client conversations has not received as much press, probably because it is so hard to figure out. And when someone wants to know, (as an aside, what RIGHT do people have to know if they have had their attorney client privacy has been violated?) it has been deemed a state secret which must be hidden for reasons of National Security.
There is an article today on this topic by Dan Froomkin. During the dark days of the W Bush administration, I would visit his Washington Post blog every day to get his summary of the news and links. He was the biggest source of traffic on their web. Since he was fired, I only go to the WAPOST when someone provides a link. Dan went to Huffington Post and now has joined Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill at The Intercept.
To do their jobs properly, journalists and lawyers sometimes need to be able to keep information private from the government.
And because what journalists and lawyers do is so integral to safeguarding democracy and basic rights, the United States has traditionally recognized their need for privileged communications.
But the virtually inescapable government surveillance exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has impaired if not eliminated the ability of news-gatherers and attorneys to communicate confidentially with their sources and their clients, according to a new report by two rights advocacy groups.
Recall that quaint document, the constitution, says that a free press is essential for democracy. It was 2000 years from the fall of Rome to the next democracy in America.
But when journalists can’t do their jobs, the effect is felt well beyond the profession alone. Insufficiently informed journalism can “undermine effective democratic participation and governance,” the report states.
“What makes government better is our work exposing information,” Washington Post reporter Dana Priest is quoted as saying. ”It’s not just that it’s harder for me to do my job, though it is. It also makes the country less safe. Institutions work less well, and it increases the risk of corruption. Secrecy works against all of us.”
Oh I forgot. Did you hear about the affair that X had? Do you realize that Y at one time had said something terrible?
To fit the culture of mindless politics, I forgot to put in the real topics of the corporate media.
Here is the link to Froomkin's article
Top Journalists and Lawyers: NSA Surveillance Threatens Press Freedom and Right to Counsel