| War & Press Freedom: The Problem of Prerogative Power Contributor(s): Smith, Jeffery A. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0195099451 ISBN-13: 9780195099454 Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA OUR PRICE: $198.00 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: February 1999 Annotation: In the two centuries from the ratification of the First Amendment in 1791 through the Gulf War in 1991, the American press lacked an adequate right to analyze and report on the nation's armed conflicts. When restrictions were challenged as violations of the Constitution, military regulations and federal laws were justified as necessary under the "higher law" of survival Is there law more important than the Constitution which allows prerogative powers to be used in a time of war or national crisis? This groundbreaking and provocative study, examining law and history over these two hundred years, argues that press freedom cannot and should not be suspended during armed conflict. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Law | Media & The Law - Language Arts & Disciplines | Journalism - Law | Constitutional |
| Dewey: 342.730 |
| LCCN: 97037755 |
| Lexile Measure: 1890 |
| Physical Information: 1.09" H x 6.34" W x 9.28" (1.63 lbs) 336 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: War and Press Freedom: The Problem of Prerogative Power is a groundbreaking and provocative study of one of the most perplexing civil liberties issues in American history: What authority does or should the government have to control press coverage and commentary in wartime? First Amendment scholar Jeffery A. Smith shows convincingly that no such extraordinary power exists under the Constitution, and that officials have had to rely on claiming the existence of an autocratic higher law of survival. Smith carefully surveys the development of statutory restrictions and military regulations for the news media from the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791 through the Gulf War of 1991. He concludes that the armed forces can justify refusal to divulge a narrow range of defense secrets, but that imposing other restrictions is unwise, unnecessary, and unconstitutional. In any event, as electronic communication becomes almost impossible to constrain, soldiers and journalists must learn how to respect each other's obligations in a democratic system. |