Press outlets protest Manning trial secrecy

More than 30 news outlets and media organizations lodged an official protest Tuesday against secrecy in the court-martial of Pvt Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst accusing of leaking hundreds of thousands of military reports and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.

The amicus brief filed with the military's highest court, the Court of Appeals of the Armed Forces, supports a request from the Center for Constitutional Rights to allow public access to motions, briefs, written rulings and the docket in Manning's court-martial.

While hearings in Manning's case have been in large part public, the motions and briefs the prosecution and defense are arguing about are not available from the court. So, those watching the arguments often have trouble understanding precisely what the lawyers are arguing about.

"This Court should find that such an arrangement is unconstitutional," lawyers Gregg Leslie and Kristen Rasmussen wrote in the brief, which was joined by POLITICO and parent company Allbritton Communications Co. "The inability to view court documents filed in connection with a particular judicial proceeding burdens the news media’s constitutionally protected right to collect and disseminate the news and severely curtails journalists’ ability to do their jobs effectively."

The brief (posted here) also notes that in a tough economic environment, documents may be essential to journalists' ability to report on the case, particularly one as drawn out as that of Manning, who was arrested in May 2010 and currently has a trial date in next January.

"Public court records, namely the various legal arguments and requests by parties and their counsel contained in the documents, enable journalists to tell the full story, despite the fact that deadline pressures or shrinking news staffs may drastically limit their ability to attend a lengthy judicial proceeding in its entirety," the media brief says.

Others signing onto the brief included The Associated Press, Atlantic Media, Dow Jones, Gannett, Hearst, CNN, McClatchy, The New York Times, The New York Daily News, Reuters, the Washington Post, The Tribune Co. and The Washington Post.

Military prosecutors have urged the court to reject the request for direct access to the court-martial filings. Prosecutors say the public can seek to access the records through the Freedom of Information Act, although that process is almost always untimely and the military has flatly rejected past request for Manning related records.

Manning's defense counsel David Coombs has published some filings on his blog, but the prosecution and the judge have forced him to delete the substance of the prosecution's argument along with the names of virtually all individuals other than Manning mentioned in the documents.

The brief also points out an odd irony: while legal filings in the miltiary commissions trying alleged Al Qaeda members are — after significant lobbying by the media — published on a military-run website, filings in the highly newsworthy court martial of an American soldier are unavailable to the press and public through official channels.

Court filings in federal civilian court cases are almost always immediately and directly available to the public and press through an electronic docketing system. The Supreme Court has found a common-law right of access to court records and many courts have found a First Amendment right to such records in most circumstances.

Military courts have recognized a defendant's constitutional right to a public court-martial since at least the 1980s, the media brief says. And the Army Court of Criminal Appeals found a "qualified" First Amendment right of access to court-martial exhibits in 1998.

In March, media groups sent Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson a letter seeking access to the Manning court-martial filings. Johnson, who was instrumental in setting up online access to the Guantanamo military commission filings, has not responded to the letter.


Read more about: , , , , , , ,

Views: 49

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

tjdavis posted a video

Mike Benz: DARPA & USAID are Weaponizing Music to Control Human Behavior

Watch every episode ad-free & uncensored on Patreon: https://patreon.com/dannyjonesMike Benz is a former State Department official and current Executive Dire...
5 hours ago
Tammy is now a member of 12160 Social Network
yesterday
Less Prone commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

The Cartel

"In his 1995 book; Bloodlines of the illuminati, Frits Sringmaier listed the following 13…"
yesterday
tjdavis posted a photo
yesterday
tjdavis posted a blog post
yesterday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post What Four UFO Whistle Blowers All Suffered in Common?
"This falls in the category of political assassination, a very shameful policy of eliminating people…"
yesterday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
yesterday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
"cheeki kea Thank you, just one thing. The Choctaw Indian who came to the rescue was a war veteran…"
Monday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
"Well that is one fine story you've got going there Doc V. with a very interesting roll up. I…"
Monday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
"Just another bizarre chapter in WWII that seems more suspect as paranormal."
Sunday
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
Sunday
Burbia's blog post was featured

Former President Trump?

When was this article written? It is attributed to Victor Davis Hanson. He is a Fellow at Hoover…See More
Sunday
Less Prone commented on Burbia's blog post Former President Trump?
"It must be an unintended mistake "former". But that Trump demanded to keep Khan away is a…"
Sunday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Mistake We Made in America
Sunday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
Sunday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post “Night of Horror” Finland WWII 1939 and a Russian Massacre
"Quite an uplifting story of the winter war. Finland was overpowered by ten to one and could still…"
Sunday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Elon Weighs in on Charlie Kirk's Assassination and How it is an Instrument of Social Control

For a very long time now there has been in place mass population behavioral control operations that…See More
Saturday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
"Less Prone Thanks Buddy I worked on it for 3 days! "
Friday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
Friday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Forest Devil
"You have spun a great story, congratulations!"
Friday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted