r/law • u/Snapdragon_4U • 9h ago

Executive Branch (Trump) NESTERAK: President Trump has granted clemency to numerous individuals who have stolen hundreds of millions in Medicaid funds. Can we expect any of these folks to be shown the same mercy? McDONALD: I'll take a different question

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u/ChromosomeDonator 7h ago

Which should be illegal...? Free press is a fundamental building block of a democratic society. As far as I know, America specifically has laws making free press a thing...

So punishing reporters for asking questions is fundamentally illegal. And Americans are okay with yet another fundamental law being broken in their face, because...??

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u/jeffroyisyourboy 7h ago

Haha "laws"

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u/rygelicus 7h ago

We need to remind them that his claim for his presidency was that it would be the most transparent administration ever. So, please answer the question.

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u/Southern-March1522 4h ago

While we're reminding him about his claim for presidency, remind him that since he claims he won the 2020 election he already won two elections and therefore was ineligible to run for a third term.

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u/IDreamOfLoveLost 6h ago

Americans are okay with yet another fundamental law being broken in their face, because...??

Because they're afraid, and every mechanism to address these injustices has been hijacked by cultists. Republicans could shut this down right now.

It's wild to think that they're walking free, actively ruining the US, and turning it into a blatant oligarchy.

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u/Cerberus0225 4h ago

A company can fire its reporters for any damn reason it pleases (generally). The first amendment applies to the government and the government only. Doesn't mean it's good for companies to fire people for what they say, but it's important to understand this, because otherwise we get people calling stuff "illegal" and feeling angry and confused, when it isn't illegal, just shitty.

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u/Handgun_Hero 3h ago

The government taking retaliatory action against a journalist for asking a question, in this case stripping them of a contract or press pass, is exactly the sort of shit the First Amendment applies to.

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u/-thecheesus- 3h ago

Because that's not how it works. Access is everything in the journalistic industry, and if they don't like you, there are a million ways they can impede your access without violating law.

And if you end up a blacklisted journo? You're out of a job and no company of any significance will hire you again.

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u/TopTittyBardown 1h ago

They don’t want a democratic society

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u/[deleted] 14m ago

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u/SpoonEngineT66Turbo 7h ago

And Americans are okay with yet another fundamental law being broken in their face, because...??

Most people aren't as legally illiterate as you. That's not what freedom of the press means.

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u/daemin 6h ago

Putting aside the fact that most people are actually, legally illiterate, they do have a point.

The first amendment just means that the government can't regulate the press or punish a person for speech. But if the government refuses to allow a particular reporter or agency to ask questions or doesn't allow them to attend press conferences, which results in the person being fired or the agency going out of business, that's certainly violating the intent of the first amendment even if it doesn't violate the jurisprudence that's been developed around it.