Judge Retreats From Ruling That Clearly Ran Afoul of the First Amendment, by Daily Editorials – Creators Syndicate

The New York Times wasted no time resuming its aggressive reporting on Project Veritas after a New York judge on Dec. 14 retreated from a shocking ruling that imposed prior restraint on the newspaper's ability to do its work. New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles D. Wood reversed himself following a challenge by the Times, backed by other news publications, protesting the unwarranted and unconstitutional restraint on First Amendment rights. Wood's previous Nov. 18 ruling exceeded the historic restraints imposed, but later revoked, by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971 regarding publication of the Pentagon Papers.

Wood had not only blocked the paper from publishing information it had collected but said Times reporters could not even continue their investigation of how a diary belonging to then-presidential candidate Joe Biden's daughter, Ashley, was obtained by Project Veritas. Project Veritas, a right-wing group, uses scams and sting operations to embarrass public figures, usually ones connected to liberal groups and Democratic politicians.

Three days after Wood pulled back from his earlier ruling, the Times had resumed publishing details of how Project Veritas obtained the purloined diary and used extortionate methods to demand an interview with Joe Biden during his campaign. The Times was restricted from publishing its findings previously because Wood ruled some of the newspaper's information fell under the rubric of attorney-client privilege. On Friday, the Times provided new details of the subterfuge behind the apparently stolen diary, now the subject of an FBI investigation.

Ashley Biden had been under treatment in Florida for addiction and had kept a diary at the time. She left a house she was sharing with a friend in Del Ray Beach, Florida, to join the Biden family in Pennsylvania in the presidential campaign's final days. She left behind a duffel bag and other belongings in the Florida house, including her diary. Another person found the diary, which was later acquired by Project Veritas and presumably perused for juicy details to embarrass Biden before the election.

Project Veritas' chief legal officer wrote to Biden and his campaign on Oct. 16, 2020, demanding an interview. If Veritas had not received a reply by Oct. 20, "we will have no choice but to act unilaterally and reserve the right to disclose that you refused our offer to provide answers to the questions raised by your daughter" in the diary, legal officer Jered T. Ede wrote, according to the Times. Those details smacked of attempted extortion using an apparently stolen diary more than adequate evidence to warrant an FBI investigation.

Blocking the Times from reporting such details by imposing prior restraint marked a new low in the exercise of thoughtful and balanced jurisprudence. Though Wood made the right call by retreating from his initial order, it's an order he never should have issued in the first place.

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Judge Retreats From Ruling That Clearly Ran Afoul of the First Amendment, by Daily Editorials - Creators Syndicate