Remember when a U.S. Marshal confiscated and erased journalists’ tapes of an Antonin Scalia speech? The reporters involved in the controversy sued, and fortunately, won.
The government has conceded that the U.S. Marshals Service violated federal law when a marshal ordered reporters with The Associated Press and the Hattiesburg American to erase their recordings of a speech by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
The U.S. Department of Justice also said the reporters and their employers are each entitled to $1,000 in damages and reasonable attorneys’ fees, which had been sought by the media organizations.
The government’s concessions were contained in court papers filed Friday in response to a lawsuit by the news organizations.
It was not, however, a sweeping victory. The lawsuit hoped to ensure that such an incident would be prohibited in the future. Unfortunately, the government’s concession wouldn’t go that far, and as such, the case will continue.
The lawsuit filed in May will continue on the outstanding issues, including the request for an injunction, Leonard Van Slyke, a lawyer for the AP, said Tuesday.
“The United States government has acknowledged that it violated the rights of the reporters and their employers by requiring the erasure of their tape recordings of Justice Scalia’s speech,” Van Slyke said. “We feel this is certainly an appropriate concession.
“What remains before the court are constitutional issues, and the question of whether the United States will be enjoined from taking similar actions in the future,” Van Slyke said.