Cross-posted at ASR

Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut recently proposed the SHIELD Act, which, if enacted, would serve as a major gag on the press in the United States.  Wired magazine has an excellent summary here, so I won’t go into too much detail on the specifics in this post.  Instead, I will advocate ACTION.  What is clear is that this bill needs to be stopped in its tracks and Lieberman must be held personally accountable for attempting to repress one of our republic’s fundamental and important rights.  In that spirit, I sent the following letter to my Senators, and encourage anyone who is concerned about this issue to do the same:

Dear Senator,

I’m writing this letter due to my grave concern over the nature of a bill that was recently introduced to the Senate by Joseph Lieberman called the SHIELD Act. This act is truly disturbing in that it aims, under the guise of “national security,” to restrict the press’ ability to serve its most important democratic function; namely, to hold the members of the government publicly accountable for abuses of power. The SHIELD Act would have a truly disturbing chilling effect on the fourth estate, and so I strongly urge you to use every means in your power to prevent this travesty from becoming law.

However, merely stopping this atrocity is not enough; Senator Lieberman needs to be held accountable for his role in sponsoring it. Like you, Senator Lieberman took an oath when he became Senator to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; [and to] bear true faith and allegiance to the same.” Given that he took this Oath, it must be assumed that he was aware of the wording of the First Amendment, which explicitly states, among other things, that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” Senator Lieberman has, in explicit violation of his Oath, proposed a law that would do just that. I therefore urge you to begin the process necessary to at least censure, and hopefully expel, Senator Lieberman from the Senate. While I have faith in the Supreme Court to strike down the SHIELD Act should it be enacted, the man behind it deserves to face personal consequences for his cavalier and disrespectful attempt to rob the American People of one of their most fundamental liberties. Thank you for your consideration, and I again encourage you to publicly and unabashedly stand up for our rights.

Sincerely,