ACLJ Calls on Obama Admin. Targeting Newsrooms "Dangerous" - Part of Ongoing "Assault" on the Constitution

February 19, 2014

2 min read

Constitution

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(Washington, DC) - The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which focuses on constitutional law, said a proposal by the Obama Administration to monitor newsrooms across the country is extremely dangerous and amounts to an unprecedented assault of the First Amendment and the freedom of the press.

The FCC is reported to be eyeing a proposal that would send government researchers into newsrooms to determine how news organizations decide which stories to run.  The proposal has prompted one FCC Commissioner to express concern that this could be used in “pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories.

"This is an extremely troubling and dangerous development that represents the latest in an ongoing assault on the Constitution by the Obama Administration,” said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. We have seen a corrupt IRS unleashed on conservatives. We have seen an imperial president bypass Congress and change the law with Executive Orders. And, now we see the heavy hand of the Obama Administration poised to interfere with the First Amendment rights of journalists. It’s clear that the Obama Administration is only interested in utilizing intimidation tactics – at the expense of Americans and the Constitution. The federal government has no place attempting to control the media, using the unconstitutional actions of repressive regimes to squelch free speech.

The ACLJ has launched a national petition to stop this latest unconstitutional assault on free speech and the freedom of the press. In just a couple of hours, more than 10,000 Americans already have signed on to this petition.

The ACLJ is on the front-lines defending the constitutional rights of Americans – including representing 41 organizations in a federal lawsuit challenging the unconstitutional targeting by the IRS.

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), focusing on constitutional law, is based in Washington, D.C.