High Court Rules Detention of David Miranda Was Lawful 169
Alain Williams writes with news that last year's detention of David Miranda and seizure of files destined for Glenn Greenwald has been ruled lawful. From the article: "The nine-hour detention ... of an ex-Guardian journalist's partner has been ruled lawful. ... At the High Court, Mr Miranda claimed his detention under anti-terrorism laws was unlawful and breached human rights. But judges said it was a 'proportionate measure in the circumstances' and in the interests of national security. ... In his ruling, Lord Justice Laws said: 'The claimant was not a journalist; the stolen GCHQ intelligence material he was carrying was not "journalistic material," or if it was, only in the weakest sense.'"
Naturally, an appeal is planned.
Re:Of course it's "lawful" (Score:5, Informative)
Especially when it involves foreigners.
No longer true, and American just visiting investigative reporting websites [firstlook.org] means you will be spied on these days (check out the real time tracking pictures of website visitors by the GHCQ). No wonder we plunged to 46th place on press freedoms [slashdot.org]...
This story links to the BBC which also appears to be very uncritical of the UK government press freedom violations these days. A much better news source would be the new real investigative reporting at The Intercept:
On the UK’s Equating of Journalism With Terrorism [firstlook.org]
UK Court: David Miranda Detention Legal Under Terrorism Law [firstlook.org]
Re:"Lord Justice Laws" (Score:5, Informative)
His name is John Laws. Really [wikipedia.org].
Re:"Lord Justice Laws" (Score:5, Informative)
No, all senior judges have the title "Lord Justice" and it just so happens this one used to be called Mr Laws.
However, Lord Chief Justice Judge [wikipedia.org] has retired.