Atlanta Legal Nurse Consultant Attended Georgia Law Review Symposium

Atlanta, Georgia -- Atlanta legal nurse consultant Liz Buddenhagen attended the University of Georgia (UGA) School of Law on November 6, 2013 to hear Justice Stevens’ address and discussion “The Future of the Press Clause: New Media in a New World.”

The symposium, titled “The Press and the Constitution 50 Years after New York Times v. Sullivan,” featured the importance of the Court’s decision which sparked widespread debate about constitutional protections for individuals and the press in a variety of situations. “Crucial to these inquiries was the question of the meaning of the First Amendment’s Press Clause” and how to define the role of the Press Clause and how to determine its relationship to the Speech Clause, per the symposium overview.

Justice Stevens:

Justice Stevens said “history is at best an inexact field of study” and “historical truth can be elusive” and discussed the fallacies of originalism.

Stevens also discussed racial and political gerrymandering. Divergent accounts of historians in the 1876 presidential election exist. In some Southern states Democrats kept Republicans voters away from the polls with intimidation and even violence as recorded by Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist’s book but not in the account by C. Vann Woodward.

Panel Discussion:

Professors Rodney A. Smolla, Duke Law, Lili Levi, University of Miami School of Law and Lyrissa Lidsky, University of Florida, Levin School of Law, comprised the panel and it was moderated by Hillel Levin, Associate Professor of UGA School of Law.

Smolla commented the “leaker is always the loser and the publisher always wins.” He noted that there has never been a prosecution of the publisher in information leaking situations. He referred to the recent N.Y. Times article about the massive surveillance of the NSA, Daniel Ellsberg and Pvt. Manning.

Levi touched on press reform in Britain and referred to the recent “The Economist” article.

Lidsky talked about the “Golden Age” of press cases being the 1970s, particularly Watergate. She pointed out the special role the press plays in democracy. Lidsky concluded that democracy could not function without the press. She also said that “the court recognizes no special role of the press” and nevertheless the press is a powerful institution. Therefore, she concluded, the press is actually an unofficial branch of government and they should use their power to protect their freedoms.

Lidsky continued that the media is not particularly popular presently. She went on to say the new media actors such as bloggers and tweeters have little power individually but can mobilize public opinion. Big players like Yahoo and Google have financial resources, ability to lobby for what they want and can mobilize public opinion. One problem, she said, is that they do not have press function as part of their identity. It was also noted that many of the new media are not trained journalists.

Atlanta Legal Nurse Consultant:

Liz Buddenhagen assists Atlanta attorneys with any case where healthcare is at issue. For more information view www.Legal-Nurse-Consultant-LNC.com, email Liz@BuddenhagenLNC.com or call 770-725-2997 today. 

Contact Information

Liz Buddenhagen

Principal

Buddenhagen and Associates

(1) 7707252997

Liz@BuddenhagenLNC.com