Muzzling the press in the Padilla "trial"
The Jose Padilla "trial" started today, and it began on a particularly sour note for the First Amendment. Alongside all the other Constitutional abominations comprising this case, there's this unprecedented infringement (via FireDogLake):
But court security officers are enforcing an unusual rule for the trial, which is set to get under way with opening statements Monday. They are prepared to prevent members of the media from asking questions of defense lawyers or federal prosecutors at the trial.
In effect, newspaper, radio, and television reporters are being granted observer status – they may sit quietly, watch the trial, and take notes. But if during a court recess they approach a defense lawyer or prosecutor in the courtroom with a question, they risk being whisked away by security officials.
The ban on media questions also extends to the lobby outside US District Judge Marcia Cooke's courtroom and chambers.
This is not an order by the judge. It's an unwritten rule made up by the security staff, who have no authority to do any such thing:
Judge Cooke has not issued a formal rule barring the press from asking questions, according to members of her staff. But, they say, she supports the unwritten rule being enforced by the court security officer.
If she supports it, she needs to commit it to the record so she can be reversed on appeal. The author of the article found out about it after asking one of the prosecutors a question during a recess, after the judge and jury had left the room:
[A] court security officer confronted me. He accused me of conducting an interview and asked me to step out of the courtroom.
Just let the Kafkaesque echo of that highlighted phrase roll around your head for a while.