Tag: Web exclusive

Analysis: Blagojevich’s conviction fits pattern of white-collar retrials

The conviction of former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich on 17 federal criminal counts on Monday is not surprising in light of the high percentage of convictions that federal prosecutors win in retrials of white-collar crimes after they have a chance to streamline complicated cases to appeal to juries. A jury found Blagojevich guilty of 17 counts

Supreme Court makes First Amendment ruling

Venturing into a new frontier of First Amendment law, the Supreme Court gave constitutional protection to those seeking to use the vast stores of data and information collected by modern information technology. The court ruled 6-3 that Vermont could not stop pharmaceutical companies from obtaining data on doctors’ prescription-writing practices – data the companies used

Alito talks media with lawyers in St. Louis

Justice Samuel Alito didn't direct his remarks at the press when he spoke to a ballroom full of lawyers in St. Louis. But it was clearly the press he had in mind when he described the misconceptions that people have about the Supreme Court. Alito even singled out for criticism the star Supreme Court reporter of

Liberty Tree seminar: Media accountability in the digital age?

The School of Journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale hosted a seminar on April 12 to focus on journalism ethics and First Amendment issues, funded by a grant from Liberty Tree. In two panels, journalists, lawyers and professors talked to students and each other about whether the traditional tools of media accountability are up to

Protess and Northwestern keep battling

In 2009, when a prosecutor went to court to force David Protess to release information compiled by journalism students working on his famous Innocence Project, Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism came to the defense of the popular, pugnacious professor. After all, Protess had made the school famous for having helped free 12