I dunno, it seems like lately the conservatives have been pushing things as far as they can, and then when there’s a public outcry they quickly retreat. We’ve seen it with the White House a lot lately; and now our friend Justice Scalia has done it as well:
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has issued written apologies for the destruction of two reporters’ audiotapes by a deputy U.S. marshal in guarding him last week, and has promised to permit print journalists to record his public speeches in the future, according to a letter by the justice made public yesterday.
For the record, Scalia says that the incident was not taken at his direction. But he has directed in the past that there be no recordings of any of his public speaking engagements, which is ironic because he generally speaks of the First Amendment.
In the end, I’m glad that public pressure has finally reached a point that it has a real effect on our leadership.
