Founded as St. Louis Journalism Review in 1970
The Roberts court, with the chief justice in the lead, is amassing a strong free speech record by refusing to carve out new exceptions to the First Amendment and by expanding the frontiers of free speech in the areas of campaign finance and hate speech.
When legislators or lobbyists talk about a bill in the Missouri General Assembly that would weaken protection for whistleblowers, they often call it the “Enterprise bill.” The reason is that Enterprise Rent-a-Car of Clayton has made it a top legislative priority for the past five years, ever since the firm lost a whistleblower lawsuit filed by its fired corporate comptroller, Thomas P. Dunn.
The Justice Department obtained the credit reports, credit card statements, personal bank records, travel records and telephone call information for New York Times reporter James Risen during its espionage investigation of St. Louisan Jeffrey Sterling, according to a recent court filing.
“We messed up,” said Arnie Robbins, editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was referring to the paper’s not doing a news story on a rally held downtown within walking distance of the Post on Friday, March 11. It was attended by about 5,000 people, mostly members of unions in the area.
At a time when millions of Americans have a cell phone with video and audio capability and when videotapes of police misconduct often are the stuff of news reports, Illinois is leading the nation in prosecuting citizens who tape officers in public. Illinois has one of the three most restrictive eavesdropping laws in the country, along with Maryland and Massachusetts. And Illinois police and prosecutors are not shy about using the law to punish the taping of arrests and interrogations.