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Secret military justice documented in pair of studies

By Mark Obbie

Thanks in part to a survey conducted by the Tully Center for Free Speech -- located just down the hall from me and headed by my Newhouse School colleague, broadcast journalist and media-law expert Barbara Fought -- the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has just published an important and damning study documenting the barriers to public access in the military justice system. Dockets, other records, and proceedings are frequently and illegally closed, according to the pair of studies that are indexed here (and announced in this accompanying press release). Here's the Tully Center survey that tested the responses from a sample of military installations. The RCFP publications include a white paper plus a story documenting the frustrations for journalists of covering military courts -- and details on how some have overcome the odds to break important stories. One fact that struck me as surprising: the uncertainty over whether the Freedom of Information Act applies to military courts (regardless, though, case law holds that the First Amendment gives a right of access, according to the report).

Full post as published by Lawbeat on August 15, 2008 (boomark / email).