Here’s a disturbing case of Roger Shuler, an Alabama blogger (Legal Schnauzer) now under indefinite detention in a state prison after refusing to remove items from his blog in adherence to an injunction ruling. Seems the judge way overstepped his bounds and lynched Shuler’s First Amendment right without a trial.
Shuler’s is the only name listed from the Western Hemisphere in the Committee to Protect Journalists’ list of imprisoned news workers around the world. While the presence of a U.S. blogger in a U.S. prison because of his work is troubling enough from a constitutional standpoint, there is even more to Shuler’s story than was first suggested in early reports. A New York Times report on Shuler may have underplayed some chilling factors relating to the blogger’s situation.
Commenting on the article in the NYT, Shuler’s wife, Carol Shuler, said
The Times article was entirely in error in suggesting that we are not seeking a lawyer. My husband and I both told the [Times] reporter repeatedly that we were in fact very much wanting a lawyer and were in fact looking for one, however, we did not have the resources to pay an attorney. We hope to find a good First Amendment or constitutional law attorney who could represent us pro bono or by contingency.
There certainly are a lot of high-priced attorneys in Pensacola. Wouldn’t it be nice if one of them stepped up to help this guy out? There’s no greater constitutional issue than this.
How strange it is that there’s nothing in the media about this? A First Amendment issue ought to be front-page above the fold, just as the lynching of a citizen would be.
Link: Jailing of an Alabama blogger: It’s worse than we thought | Blogger’s Incarceration Raises First Amendment Questions
