# Lawmaker does not understand first amendment **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 8, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304 "2015-01-08T12:56:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/81 "2015-01-08T19:24:08Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Please, for the love of god and apple pie, take 30 seconds to copy and paste the part of her article you claim she invented out of whole cloth. - Councilman Kirby Delauter, who is also a former commissioner, has joined Shreve in concern over parking for elected officials. \* ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/82 "2015-01-08T19:24:22Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > “she contacted me by phone yesterday, I did not return her call” That was _after_ the so-called hit piece was published. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/83 "2015-01-08T19:29:01Z")
Your point being? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/84 "2015-01-08T19:30:11Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > - > > Councilman Kirby Delauter, who is also a former commissioner, has joined Shreve in concern over parking for elected officials. \* It is impossible, I suppose, that she got that information by talking to Shreve. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/85 "2015-01-08T19:33:28Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > It is impossible, I suppose, that she got that information by talking to Shreve. Or she inferred it based on information she got from Gardner: “Delauter, R-District 5, has asked Gardner to take parking spaces away from her government affairs liaison and her chief administrative officer and designate them for the council.” ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/86 "2015-01-08T19:37:12Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Your point being? Still waiting on that cite that she twisted and lied. ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/87 "2015-01-08T19:37:38Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > “she contacted me by phone yesterday, I did not return her call” So, any time an official says “No comment” when asked a question by a reporter, they are guilty of harassment? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/88 "2015-01-08T19:38:38Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > It is impossible, I suppose, that she got that information by talking to Shreve. Would it have been better reporting to say “According to Shreve, Councilman Kirby Delauter, a former commissioner, has joined Shreve in concern over parking for elected officials” ? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/89 "2015-01-08T19:39:03Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > It is impossible, I suppose, that she got that information by talking to Shreve. A friend of a friend has told me that \*you \*have some pretty peculiar beliefs. Would you like me to list them? Doesn’t matter if you say no. I’ve heard your opinions from someone else, and that’s good enough. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/90 "2015-01-08T19:40:22Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Still waiting on that cite that she twisted and lied. Several instances given repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/91 "2015-01-08T19:43:45Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > A friend of a friend has told me that \*you \*have some pretty peculiar beliefs. > > Would you like me to list them? > > Doesn’t matter if you say no. I’ve heard your opinions from someone else, and that’s good enough. Essentially, in your situation, the reporter can’t win. She has a story to report. She has second-hand information, and the focus of the story won’t respond to questions. What should she do? Also, you \*do \*know that the standard for actionable defamation is higher for public figures, don’t you? If she’s quoting an outside party and reporting the information as such in her story, it’s hard to have a claim against her. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/92 "2015-01-08T19:44:27Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Would it have been better reporting to say “According to Shreve, Councilman Kirby Delauter, a former commissioner, has joined Shreve in concern over parking for elected officials” ? Did Shreve say that? cite? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/93 "2015-01-08T19:46:05Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > - > > Councilman Kirby Delauter, who is also a former commissioner, has joined Shreve in concern over parking for elected officials. \* So then, as guizot says, you have evidence he is not concerned over parking for elected officials? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/94 "2015-01-08T19:49:49Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > A friend of a friend has told me that \*you \*have some pretty peculiar beliefs. > > Would you like me to list them? > > Doesn’t matter if you say no. I’ve heard your opinions from someone else, and that’s good enough. Besides the fact that it’s a terrible analogy, the idea that she got secondhand information that she tried to confirm with Delauter is a far cry from your assertion that after he refused to talk to her, she simply made things up. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/95 "2015-01-08T19:52:17Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Did Shreve say that? > > cite? That’s called an example of an alternate written line. It was not claimed to be an actual quote. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/96 "2015-01-08T19:52:27Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > Essentially, in your situation, the reporter can’t win. She has a story to report. She has second-hand information, and the focus of the story won’t respond to questions. > > What should she do? 1. the reporter got herself into the situation. He declined to speak to her because of her own prior behaviour. 2. he wasn’t the focus of the story. There was no need to mention him at all 3. An ethical journalist could have used the phrase “[declined to comment](http://www.jconline.com/story/news/crime/2015/01/07/search-warrant-denied-christmas-homicide/21410039/)” ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/97 "2015-01-08T19:55:58Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > That’s called an example of an alternate written line. > > It was not claimed to be an actual quote. Thanks! Yes, I was not quoting anyone, I was just asking if that would have been a better sentence, since it clearly shows where the reporter got the stance of Delauter ---
**Author:** ![Fallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Fallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fallen)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/98 "2015-01-08T19:57:29Z")
Peter, you might want to stop digging and just admit you haven’t actually read up on the story. At any rate, your posts don’t speak to facts and otherwise don’t make sense (in this particular post, as to the notion that the reporter should’ve written “declined to comment”). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/99 "2015-01-08T19:59:58Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Besides the fact that it’s a terrible analogy, the idea that she got secondhand information that she tried to confirm with Delauter is a far cry from your assertion that after he refused to talk to her, she simply made things up. 1. It isn’t an analogy, it is the exact same thing. It is, in both cases, quoting somebody’s opinion after hearing it from somebody else. 2. Do have any actual evidence that this happened at all? Are you just guessing that she heard it from somebody else, or can you provide a cite? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304/100 "2015-01-08T20:06:38Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > 1. Do have any actual evidence that this happened at all? Are you just guessing that she heard it from somebody else, or can you provide a cite? You mean the same way you’ve been providing evidence of what you claim? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lawmaker-does-not-understand-first-amendment/709304.md?page=6)