05/23/07


Justice Dept. orders release of documents over erasure of Scalia speech

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) -- The Justice Department has ordered the release of documents to a Hattiesburg newspaper related to the Marshals Service's investigation into the erasing of recordings of a speech by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

The order came Tuesday, more than two years after the Hattiesburg American appealed the Marshals Service's refusal to allow access to records pertaining to the seizure of tapes of Scalia's speech at Presbyterian Christian School in Hattiesburg in April 2004.

The Associated Press and the Hattiesburg American ended their litigation against the Marshals Service in September 2004.

The government had conceded in a filing on Sept. 10, 2004, that the Marshals Service violated federal law when a deputy marshal ordered reporters to erase their recordings of Scalia's speech.

During the April 7 speech, a deputy federal marshal, Melanie Rube, demanded that AP reporter Denise Grones and Hattiesburg American reporter Antoinette Konz erase recordings of the justice's remarks. The reporters had not been told before the speech that they could not use tape recorders.

When Grones resisted, the marshal took the digital recorder out of her hands. The reporter then showed Rube how to erase the recording.

Rube then reached across Grones and demanded that Konz hand over her tape. Konz surrendered the tape and, after the speech, was able to get it back only after she erased the recording in front of the marshal.

The marshal said she acted at the direction of Scalia.

The exchange occurred in the front row of the school auditorium while Scalia spoke on the Constitution. Scalia later apologized and said he would make it clear in the future that recording his remarks for the use of the print media would not be a problem.

The newspaper had requested a copy of the final report related to the investigation, transcripts of interviews conducted during the investigation and guidelines for handling the media provided to agents who provide security for judicial officers.

On Tuesday, Janice McLeod, associate director of the Department of Justice's Office of Information and Privacy, said the Marshals Service acted inappropriately when it denied the newspaper access to investigation records.

Leonard Van Slyke of Jackson, the newspaper's attorney, said the appeal took too long.
"This is the epitome of bureaucratic inefficiency that a one-page letter took two years and three months to generate," Van Slyke said.

Despite delays, Van Slyke said the information pertaining to the investigation is still worth receiving, adding that the public needs to know what happened in the investigation and what its findings were.

"Leonard is absolutely right that this decision took way too long," said Kathleen Williams, executive editor of the Hattiesburg American. "But we are delighted with the outcome. There is a clear public interest in getting this material. The Marshals Service should expedite getting these records to us."
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Information from: Hattiesburg American, http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com