Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Questioning whether Hillary Clinton actually had a concussion apparently is the worstest thing anyone would ever do. So I just couldn't resist a history lesson: MT @sullydish When someone gives birth in hospital, the idea that she didn't give birth at all seems perverse— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) December...

Happy New Year! While I like to look at the past, seeing into the future can be fun (despite the fact I truly struck out prediction-wise this November).  Humbled, and a lot less hopeful, I offer my predictions for 2013. 1) John Boehner remains as the Speaker...

Fighting the conservative media on Newt, including attempts to strip Newt of his accomplishments and history. Defending Rush against Media Matters and StopRush. Helping advance Mia Love to national attention. Fighting the false racial narrative in the Trayvon Martin shooting. Helping to defeat Richard Lugar. Uncovering, documenting, talking about and...

... The blame game begins. We noted here on Friday that the bad economy is already dialed in for 2013, but that President Obama would likely seek to blame congressional Republicans and the fiscal cliff fiasco for the impending economic woes. As expected, the finger pointing surrounding...

One of the best columns about the David Gregory high capacity magazine story was written by Mark Steyn, Laws Are for Little People (h/t Ace): This is, declared NYU professor Jay Rosen, “the dumbest media story of 2012.” Why? Because, as CNN’s Howard Kurtz breezily put it,...

As 2012 closes, I have been pondering making a New Year's resolution from a Tea Party perspective. After such disappointing results in the November election, and the fact that Californians approved just about every tax and spend measure on the 2012 ballot, it can be very...

The publication of the names and addresses of gun permit holders by the NY Lower Hudson Journal News , a Gannett paper, sparked controversy, including publication by a blogger (additional here) of equally personal yet publicly available information about the editors and writers of the Journal News. The paper defends its conduct on the following grounds:

“New York residents have the right to own guns with a permit and they also have a right to access public information,” said Janet Hasson, president and publisher of The Journal News Media Group.... “We knew publication of the database would be controversial, but we felt sharing as much information as we could about gun ownership in our area was important in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings,” said CynDee Royle, editor and vice president/news....

There has been criticism by other professional journalists that it was not necessary to provide names and addresses in order to obtain whatever journalistic value there was in the story.  At Poynter, Al Tompkins writes:

I am not a big fan of the maps that show sex offenders, but at least there is a logical reason for posting them .... The permit holders are accused of nothing.... I like it when journalists take heat for an explosive, necessary, courageous investigation that exposes important wrongdoing. There is journalistic purpose and careful decision-making supporting those stories. But The News Journal is taking heat for starting a gunfight just because it could.

The Journal News is planning on another data dump with more names and addresses in surrounding counties. Which brings me to a comment submitted last night.  It was from a first-time commenter, and it contained personal contact information for the Chairwoman of Gannett, including home address, telephone numbers, second home, neighbors, and relatives. I don't like the tactic, but it is something done by a Gannett newspaper (at least as to names and addresses). I'm on board with adopting some of the left's Alinskyite tactics, like holding them to their own rules, but does this go too far, particularly since she was not directly involved?  And the information is much more personal than just name and address. Is there any newsworthiness in it? No more or less so than the identity of law-abiding gun permit holders.  Neither poses a threat to the public.  But it's certainly something people are interested in. I'm not going to publish the unredacted comment, but what do you think?

In one final, futile act of desperation, tweet the Republican leadership...

As is traditional with the season, the end of the year is a chance to look back and reflect on the events that occurred over the past 365 days. And what a year it has been! Here are some stories, beyond the election and the fiscal...