Plame on you

It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. If you step on the toes of a large institution, the large institution will step on your face. It's a lesson in civil obedience that journalists Matthew Cooper and Judith Miller are having ground into their heads by the steel-toed boot of the federal government. \nIf you hadn't guessed, or if you get your news from MTV, today's en-vogue social issue is what the media has oh so cleverly dubbed "Plame-gate."\nThe chronological facts of Plame-gate go something like this: Former Ambassador Joe Wilson strongly criticized President Bush's 2003 State-o-The Union Address, in which Bush claimed Iraq sought uranium from Africa. In response, "two senior administration officials" leaked the identity of active CIA agent Valerie Plame, Wilson's wife, to Judith Miller of The New York Times, Matthew Cooper of Time magazine and Robert Novak of CNN's "Crossfire."\nUnder the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, disclosure of classified identities of covert agents by government officials carries a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment and $50,000 fine. \nThe Justice Department began investigating immediately. Of the three journalists who received the classified information, only Novak published Plame's identity. However, when contacted by the Justice Department for questioning, both Miller and Cooper refused to divulge the identity of the officials, citing the right of the press to keep anonymous sources anonymous.\nThat's when the proverbial poo hit the fan, as it were.\nMiller and Cooper were subsequently subpoenaed by the courts to testify and release the source's names. Again, they refused. The two are now being threatened with jail time for contempt of court.\nThe scandal has sent waves of outrage through the press community, including many here at the Indiana Daily Student, who feel that their constitutional right of free press is under attack. Journalists fear that a precedent might be set that would frighten would-be sources from coming forward. However, freedom of the press is not the real issue in this case. The real issue is upholding the supremacy of the courts.\nThe freedom of the press is not under attack, as many media outlets would have you believe. This case is completely atypical and subject to consideration as it stands. \nAs journalists, Miller and Cooper are no more entitled to immunity from court summons laws than any other citizen -- especially when the classified information and identity in question is a national security risk.\nThe two of them have become martyrs of sorts in the press community when they should be prosecuted for obstruction of justice. While I deeply sympathize with both journalists and admire their courage, a citizen's duty is to country first and foremost. The country requires of all citizens cooperation with the entire legal system to see that justice is done fairly and effectively.\nThe First Amendment guarantees freedom of the press, however that same Constitution also maintains: "judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, [and] the Laws of the United States."\nBut with all the confusion about freedom of the press, it's important to remember that the real criminals are the "two senior administration officials" who selfishly disclosed classified information, endangering both Plame and her family.\nThe fact remains: Journalists are not special. They, too, are citizens and subject to the same laws as everyone else. Their right to withhold information from publication does not shield them from the courts. In order to uphold the rule of law, the courts require "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth"; without which, the entire system of checks and balances threatens to come apart.