Republicans ignore 1st Amendment Rights!

zappasguitar

zappasguitar

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'Gasland' Journalists Arrested At Hearing By Order Of House Republicans


WASHINGTON -- In a stunning break with First Amendment policy on Capitol Hill, House Republicans directed Capitol Hill police to detain a highly regarded documentary crew that was attempting to film a Wednesday hearing on a controversial natural gas procurement practice. Republicans also denied the entrance of a credentialed ABC News news team that was attempting to film the event.

Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Gasland" was taken into custody by Capitol Hill police this morning, along with his crew, after Republicans objected to their presence, according to Democratic sources present at the hearing. The meeting of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment had been taking place in room 2318 of the Rayburn building.

Approximately 16 officers entered the hearing room and handcuffed Fox amid audible discussions of "disorderly conduct" charges, according to Democratic sources present at the arrest.

"Gasland" received strong critical acclaim and takes a critical eye toward the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," a process in which several tons of highly pressurized water and chemicals are injected into the ground, allowing valuable natural gas to escape. The practice is decried by ecological experts for destroying ecosystems and polluting groundwater. The energy industry keeps the actual content of fracking chemicals secret.

Fox had hoped to film Wednesday's hearing for a follow-up to "Gasland." A colleague of Fox's at his production company was unable to comment on the morning's events, but HuffPost expects a statement soon and will update this story accordingly.

Fox did not have formal Capitol Hill credentials, but such formalities are rarely enforced against high-profile journalists. Temporary passes are easy to obtain, and if Republicans had objected on procedural grounds, they could have simply sent the the crew to the front desk, rather than ordering police to arrest journalists. The right to a free press is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Documentary crews are almost never denied access to public meetings of elected government officials.

A separate ABC News crew, which did have official Capitol Hill credentials, was also denied access to the public hearing.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/house-republicans-order-j_n_1246971.html
 
ZappasGuitar said:
'Gasland' Journalists Arrested At Hearing By Order Of House Republicans


WASHINGTON -- In a stunning break with First Amendment policy on Capitol Hill, House Republicans directed Capitol Hill police to detain a highly regarded documentary crew that was attempting to film a Wednesday hearing on a controversial natural gas procurement practice. Republicans also denied the entrance of a credentialed ABC News news team that was attempting to film the event.

Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Gasland" was taken into custody by Capitol Hill police this morning, along with his crew, after Republicans objected to their presence, according to Democratic sources present at the hearing. The meeting of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment had been taking place in room 2318 of the Rayburn building.

Approximately 16 officers entered the hearing room and handcuffed Fox amid audible discussions of "disorderly conduct" charges, according to Democratic sources present at the arrest.

"Gasland" received strong critical acclaim and takes a critical eye toward the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," a process in which several tons of highly pressurized water and chemicals are injected into the ground, allowing valuable natural gas to escape. The practice is decried by ecological experts for destroying ecosystems and polluting groundwater. The energy industry keeps the actual content of fracking chemicals secret.

Fox had hoped to film Wednesday's hearing for a follow-up to "Gasland." A colleague of Fox's at his production company was unable to comment on the morning's events, but HuffPost expects a statement soon and will update this story accordingly.

Fox did not have formal Capitol Hill credentials, but such formalities are rarely enforced against high-profile journalists. Temporary passes are easy to obtain, and if Republicans had objected on procedural grounds, they could have simply sent the the crew to the front desk, rather than ordering police to arrest journalists. The right to a free press is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Documentary crews are almost never denied access to public meetings of elected government officials.

A separate ABC News crew, which did have official Capitol Hill credentials, was also denied access to the public hearing.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/house-republicans-order-j_n_1246971.html
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Ya gotta hand it to Righties in DC...who else would have the stones to say to the American People..."FUCK your 1st amendment" just months before a Presidential Election?!?



UPDATE: 2:27 p.m. -- Fox apparently had applied for credentialing the day before the hearing but had been unable to obtain official permission to film. He had asked a credentialed film crew to tape the proceedings on his behalf but was informed that this was not permitted.

Nevertheless, turning away journalists is extremely rare on Capitol Hill. The rules requiring pre-approval for film crews are designed to prevent hearings from being disrupted by hordes of camera operators. That was the case for this hearing. Only two cameras requested entrance to the event, which was not crowded.

Subcommittee Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) was unavailable for comment, but several Democrats on the committee voiced outrage with the GOP's press blackout.

"I was chair of the Subcommittee for four years, and we frequently had people show up the day of a hearing to film," Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) told HuffPost. "We asked for their name, but they were told if they would not disrupt the hearing, they were free to record. A couple of times staff said, 'You're getting in the way, don't stand there,' but other than that, I do not ever recall anything like this. We certainly never turned anyone away for not providing 24 hours' notice."

"It's an outrageous violation of the First Amendment," Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) told HuffPost. "Here we've got an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, and it's an important subject and the subject that he did his prior film on for HBO. And they put him in handcuffs and hauled him out of there. This is stunning."

"I found it ironic that there was not a flood of cameras there," noted Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.). "There was the one camera and then before that, the ABC camera ... if you have a camera there to bring the issue home to the public, that's a good thing."

The hearing was already being filmed by C-SPAN. ABC and Josh Fox had only sought to obtain higher-quality video by bringing their own cameras to the event. Democrats attempted to suspend the rules governing camerawork to allow Josh Fox and ABC to film the hearing, but Republicans, who hold a majority on all House committees and subcommittees, voted down the motion. Democrats then sought to postpone the hearing to allow for filming at a later date, a motion which Republicans also overruled.
 
Looks like liberals don't like folllowing the rules and when they get called on it they want to cry like little girls.
 
webbway said:
Looks like liberals don't like folllowing the rules and when they get called on it they want to cry like little girls.
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Lookie here...the gutless troll just ignores what is inconvenient.

"A separate ABC News crew, which did have official Capitol Hill credentials, was also denied access to the public hearing."

Just like a partisan hack like dweebway to ignore what he can't denigrate.
 
[h=2]Republicans ignore 1st Amendment Rights![/h]
Hilarious.....Zippy thinks it Republicans that are attacking the Catholics and preventing them from practicing what they preach....hahahaha
 
something about 'public' hearings and denying national media.........really pisses me off. then again, I didn't expect anything else from establishment politicians.
 
It's stupid too. Whenever politicians or political parties attempt to do this it inevitably back fires on them. Now all sorts of people who had no interest in this issue will be tuneing in and their probably not going to be happy. They have stupidly brought far more public attention to this issue then any documentary film would have. Just plain dumb.
 
bravo said:
[h=2]Republicans ignore 1st Amendment Rights![/h]
Hilarious.....Zippy thinks it Republicans that are attacking the Catholics and preventing them from practicing what they preach....hahahaha
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Of course I never said anything about the Catholic church, but then, why should anyone expect a little honesty from another petty partisan hack like bravo?

It's obvious he didn't even bother to read the OP.
 
Mott the Hoople said:
It's stupid too. Whenever politicians or political parties attempt to do this it inevitably back fires on them. Now all sorts of people who had no interest in this issue will be tuneing in and their probably not going to be happy. They have stupidly brought far more public attention to this issue then any documentary film would have. Just plain dumb.
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yep. dems have done stuff like this in the past as well...i think obama and foxnews and it backfired just like this will. when will both parties learn to respect the first amendment and allow more transparancy?
 
ZappasGuitar said:
Of course I never said anything about the Catholic church, but then, why should anyone expect a little honesty from another petty partisan hack like bravo?

It's obvious he didn't even bother to read the OP.
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All I needed to read is the Topic of the OP....
[h=2]Republicans ignore 1st Amendment Rights![/h]
Obviously, its the DEMOCRATS subverting the first Amendment rights concerning religion.....with the Catholics.....thats todays headline....
 
bravo said:
All I needed to read is the Topic of the OP....
[h=2]Republicans ignore 1st Amendment Rights![/h]
Obviously, its the DEMOCRATS subverting the first Amendment rights concerning religion.....with the Catholics.....thats todays headline....
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So you admit you made an uninformed, stupid comment.

Perhaps if you had read the OP you wouldn't be looking so stupid right now...just sayin.
 
ZappasGuitar said:
So you admit you made an uninformed, stupid comment.

Perhaps if you had read the OP you wouldn't be looking so stupid right now...just sayin.
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Enforcing the rules concerning filming a hearing is hardly ignoring the Constitution....nothing is being done in secret or without other coverage.

Preventing the Catholics from practicing their religious beliefs by force of law is ignoring the Constitution.....actually by presidential decree.......

Thats todays headlines......
 
this will likely backfire on those that want to hide from the press' eyes be they dems or reps

the fools

oh well
 
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