Buying the First Amendment
The First Amendment is under assault in Seattle.

Paul Trummel, a former London journalist and college instructor, is semiretired now and lives in Seattle, where he self-publishes a newsletter and a web site. He considers himself a freelance writer and says he's a bona fide reporter. However, he isn't paid for his work. And he writes some stuff that's really offensive to some people. Lately, he posted some stuff on his website highly critical of the administration of a government-subsidized senior housing facility, where he lived.

King County Superior Court Judge James Doerty, who apparently is one of the stupidest judges in America, ordered Trummel to remove the material from the website - and ordered the old man jailed "indefinitely" until he complies with the order. Doerty says Trummel is not entitled to First Amendment protections of free speech because he isn't paid for his newsletter/online work.

Trummel argues that his writing is protected by the First Amendment just like the writings of any citizen, regardless of journalistic affiliation.

Being that I'm a journalist and my father-in-law is a Pulitzer-winning editor who now is chairman of the Freedom Forum, a leading First Amendment/free press foundation, you'd think I'd have a good grasp of the First Amendment. But apparently I missed the day in my Communications Law class where they discussed the little-known "Seattle Clause" hidden in the Bill of Rights that says the First Amendment's free press rights are only for people who got paid for their writings.

Naively, I thought the First Amendment was for everyone, even cantankerous Brits living in Seattle.

Apparently not.

Seattle Weekly reports that the Seattle case "bears some similarities to that of Vanessa Leggett, a Texas true-crime writer with virtually no reportorial credentials. She recently made headlines for being held a record 168 days in jail after refusing to turn over her notes to a judge in a murder case. The court said she had no standing as a reporter, thus no constitutional press protections.

Though now released, Leggett may appeal her case to the U.S. Supreme Court for a landmark resolution. Dallas attorney Bob Lathan, a First Amendment specialist, recently told the American Journalism Review that the amendment exists "not for the protection of a journalist but to protect and guarantee that the public has a free flow of information."

To put it in Nashville terms, Is a musician who plays for free not still a musician? Of course he is. And a writer who writes for free is still entitled to his or her First Amendment protections.

Why do I care? Why should you? Because I self-publish this site, I write and post strong criticisms of various powerful elected officials, and I am not paid for it. And one day a judge could decide that Nashville, too, is exempt from broad First Amendment rights and that such rights are only for "paid" journalists.

There is a solution, however. In the long term, we must elect politicians and judges that actually respect both the state and federal constitutions. In the short term, you can drop a buck or three in the Amazon tip jar in the right-hand column, or support this site by shopping sales tax-free at my online store, which will mean I am a "paid" journalist with full First Amendment rights. Even to a Seattle judge.

You can express your undying scorn of the stupid judge by sending him emails by clicking here. It's your First Amendment right, you know. I also suggest you cc your email to the Seattle Weekly.

For another take on the story, click here.

Thanks to InstaPundit for spotting the Seattle Weekly story.