The motion we filed on behalf of Argentine journalist Jorge Lanata was granted yesterday. (Order)
The order has some very inspiring language in it. When a judge cites to Madison’s writings, you know you’ve had a good day as a First Amendment lawyer.
JAMES MADISON, THE FEDERALIST NO. 51 (“If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”); Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court for Norfolk Cnty., 457 U.S. 596, 606 (1982) (“[T]he right of access to [records in] trials plays a particularly significant role in the functioning of the judicial process and the government as a whole. Public scrutiny . . . enhances the quality and safeguards the integrity of the fact finding process, with benefits to both the defendant and to society as a whole.”).(Order at 5, fn. 4)
