Name: Mia Sullivan
Social Justice Group: 2018-2019, Freedom of the Press
Date of Fieldwork: December 21, 2018
Name of Organization: Civil Rights Attorney
Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Andrea Taetle
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What I did:
We spoke with Andrea Taetle, she is a civil rights attorney (and also max’s mom). We watched a documentary about James Risen, a journalist for the New York Times, discussed whistleblowing and the blurred line between freedom of the press and treason.
What I learned:
I learned about James Risen a journalist for the New York Times who is a whistleblower. He wrote an article on how the government had access to every email and phone conversation Americans had. The United States even wiretapped the Prime Minister of Germany, who is one of our allies. Previously the government needed a warrant and a probable cause to wire tape civilians, but with the new technology that they had, the government could do it without even a judges approval. This was classified information, but James Risen felt that the American people needed to know. It directly affected these countries citizens and violated the rights to privacy.
After James Risen published this article the N.S.A demanded that he reveal who had given him this information. He refused and was given the option to either reveal his sources or go to jail. The NSA thought that the information that he revealed was sensitive and could potentially endanger the safety of the United States. In the end, he did not go to jail, but he also did not reveal his sources. The government found a series of emails between James Risen and the source that revealed who it was.
What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:
I learned that the government can abridge peoples right to freedom of the press if they perceive that it somehow puts the country in danger. Though it is a multi-step process it is still possible to put reporters in jail for expressing their right to freedom of the press. But recently there has been a spotlight shown upon freedom of the press. In October 2014, Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking at a Washington, D.C. event, stated: “no reporter’s going to jail as long as I’m attorney general.” Recently people have been more conscious of their first amendment rights.
