Saving journalism from itself (and from US): The Hutchins Commission was right then,so what about now?

Even though the Hutchins Commission report has not explicitly informed journalistic practices, it has achieved a profound effect in its critique of media access equity and its concerns about media ownership. This article revisits the commission report to interpret its relevance to current media problems. Despite its practical shortcomings of influence, the report continues to provoke a critical inquiry: How is it possible to reconcile a standard of “professional ethic” with the demands of a workaday journalism concerned with the marketplace bottom‐line?     

From paparazzi to hidden cameras: The aggressive side of a free and responsible press

This article examines the complex of cultural effects and possible legal responses in the wake of the Princess of Wales' death. To say that the paparazzi were complicit in her death is to forget that, in spite of their frequently invasive means of obtaining news, these were also the kind of journalists who were complicit in the public celebration of her life. Had the Hutchins Commission this tragedy to include in its deliberations about press responsibility, it likely would have stated its indignation and suggested Diana's death as more evidence that journalists be regulated. But this article argues that aggressive journalism, as with any other of the press' activities, is beholden to a balance of public interests. These interests include the need for the public to be both informed and protected from invasion of privacy or criminal conduct by any journalist.     

First amendment values and government participation in the marketplace,fifty years after the Hutchins report

The Hutchins Commission took a favorable view of government speech; Its report recommended that government act as a supplementary news source for the public. This article asserts that the commission was “fighting the last war” by focusing on government restraints on the press, while failing to propose limitations on the government's ability to circumvent the press. With the advent of new forms of telecommunications technology, the government might one day replace the private sector press as the public's primary source for news. This article asserts that the Supreme Court should recognize that the Press Clause of the First Amendment guarantees the existence of the private sector press as an independent, nongovernmental branch of our governance system. Based on a “separation of powers” view of Press Clause values, the article argues that the Court should create a First Amendment “right of reply” to any government dissemination of information to the American public in a manner that circumvents the traditional role of the private sector press.     

Age spots: Gender sensitivity and the Hutchins Commission

The language of the Hutchins Commission report, A Free and Responsible Press, written in 1947, is sexist. The language flaws the report, but certainly does not destroy its value. Language must be separated from content, such as in Plato's and Kant's writings. Although the Hutchins Commission uses unfortunate language, its message goes beyond mere toleration to a supererogatory duty: The ideal of the marketplace of ideas shall be made concrete. Just as Plato's vision of women ruling in equal numbers has yet to become reality and just as Kant's ethical vision of every human's liberation from mistreatment has yet to be realized, the Hutchins Commission's call for a chorus of voices remains unfilled. The call has been echoed and in some case intensified, such as in Carol Gilligan's work on the voices of women. But the goals remain undiminished beacons that remind us—educators as well as the media—that we still have much work ahead in order to achieve inclusiveness.     

Electronic gatekeepers: Locking out the marketplace of ideas

The Hutchins Commission was concerned that the small minority of the people controlling the press as an instrument of mass communication could misuse their gatekeeping power. Due to new communication technologies the abundance of media outlets has increased choices available to the public far beyond anything commission members could have envisioned. This, in turn, has led to the development of a second layer of electronic gatekeepers between information originators and the public. The effect these electronic gatekeepers will have on the evolution of the press will be as great as, if not greater than, that of the human gatekeepers who were the commission's focus. This article suggests there will be an increasing equation of the public interest with what the public is interested in, a reduction in people's knowledge of public affairs and a decrease in the exposure of individuals to new ideas or ideas that contradict their existing beliefs. The article concludes by questioning whether government regulation is capable of addressing these concerns.     

Reclaiming freedom of the press: A Hutchins Commission dream or nightmare?

This article explores how and why the Hutchins Commission's vision of a responsible press and an informed citizenry did not, and does not, realistically meet either the needs of the media industries or the public. Although it was the commission's goal to create a healthier society, the new technologies of communication present old and new problems—problems that cannot be negotiated by the commission's well‐meaning but idealistic notions of press responsibility. The Internet demonstrates the old dilemma of elite access and concentrated ownership and a new dilemma of utility characterized by isolated users whose communication can be argued only superficially as socially healthy. Perhaps a more innovative and structurally significant approach, beyond the rhetoric of “press‐responsibility,” is needed to create physical access to media that can achieve the kind of “publicness” the Hutchins Commission envisioned.     

How I stopped worrying and learned to love the press

This article argues that the conclusions reached by the Hutchins Commission were wrong 50 years ago, and even more wrong today. First, greater diversity of media and market segmentation have made it easier, not harder, to voice an opinion today. Second, the expanding number of media outlets allows deserving opinions to reach large audiences indirectly by persuading the mainstream press to pick up on the subject. Third, the First Amendment should not be construed to place a special responsibility on the media to make judgments about what kinds of views and ideas the public should be exposed to.     

THE U.S. CIRCUIT JUDGE NOMINATING COMMISSION

This article examines the institution of the U.S. Circuit Judge Nominating Commission as a new actor in the recruitment process to the federal judiciary. The mandate and operation of the commission are examined and, through the utilization of mailed questionnaires, the research attempts to tap the decisional criteria employed by commission members. Criticisms of the commission and its operation are developed utilizing questionnaire responses as well as documents comprising the commission mandate. The implications of "merit" recruitment for both the district and appeals courts are examined.     

What Could a New Crime Commission Accomplish?

Even though the crime rate in the United States has dropped since the U.S. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice under President Johnson issued its report in 1967, the total number of serious crimes in the nation has increased, and public concern about the subject remains high. The 1960s Commission did not fully consider several major subjects that have emerged after it reported, including mental illness, immigration, cybercrime and other white collar crimes, indigent defense, crime victims, and evidence‐based crime policy. Many observers believe that the need to deal with these subjects in addition to those discussed by other researchers in this volume warrants an examination of crime and justice by a new commission. Congress has considered proposals for such a study for nearly a decade, but they are yet to be acted on amid ideological disputes over other criminal justice issues. If Congress fails to establish a new commission, it is still possible that one could be formed with the support of state, county, and local governments, as well as with the support of private foundations.     

The Green New Deal Must Preserve the Existing Nuclear Fleet

Abstract

As the largest source of carbon-free energy in the United States, nuclear energy must play a vital role in reducing emissions. This article suggests the Green New Deal, an ambitious federal proposal to address climate change, should aim to preserve the existing nuclear fleet by authorizing states to establish zero emission credit (“ZEC”) programs. The ZEC programs will provide credits, in the form of revenue, for the carbon-free attribute of nuclear energy. This article posits the ZEC programs should be based on a model ZEC program developed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and explicitly authorized by amendment of the Federal Power Act to avoid issues of preemption.     

Introduction

Most of the previous issue of Communication Law and Policy was devoted to articles written by some of the participants in a two‐day symposium organized by Prof. Helle at the University of Illinois which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Hutchins Commission and its report, A Free and Responsible Press. Reprinted here is part of Prof. Helle's introduction to that issue.     

Prelapsarian State: Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Transitional Justice

Since South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), 'reconciliation' is now an authoritative discourse governing political transition. Reconciliation governs the 'moral reordering' of national communities in the wake of conflict and transition to more democratic regimes by enquiring into, and attempting to address, past gross violations of human rights perpetrated, in the main, against civilian populations by the state and its agents. Reconciliation eschews retributive justice in favour of 'restorative' modes of 'dealing with the past', and has come, broadly, to be institutionalised by the truth commission. South Africa's TRC animated theological discourses of forgiveness and Christian reconciliation in order to legitimise and endow with moral resonance the project of transitional justice. This article enquires into the political effects of such an animation, and investigates the performance of forgiveness and reconciliation as metaphor and narrative.     

To Rehabilitate or Not to Rehabilitate

In this article, we review the recommendations on corrections made by the U.S. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice under President Johnson in 1967 and compare these with the changes made in U.S. corrections over the past 50 years. Shortly after the Commission completed its report, dramatic changes occurred that impacted correctional policy and practice as support for law and order and correctional control moved corrections far from the Commission's recommendations for rehabilitation. The results of this research demonstrate that these approaches have not solved the nation's crime problems and have imposed hardships on individuals and communities. A current focus on evidence‐based corrections may provide a model for future decision making depending on whether the “times are ripe” for a return to a philosophy of rehabilitation. Any new commission will benefit from the research evidence that points to successful correctional interventions. Yet, there is much that still needs to be studied and learned. A new commission must be aware of and respond to the broader social conditions and beliefs and opinions of policy makers and the public that will influence receptivity to correctional reform. Recommendations should include clear guidelines for how research findings could be used to answer the still unanswered questions about rehabilitation interventions, as well as for how to ensure quality program delivery and public safety.     

司法独立和新闻自由

司法独立与新闻自由是民主社会最弥足珍贵的两大价值。尽管在应然层面,这两大价值是相互促进与统一的,但在现实中,不同的主体依据不同的价值取向在两者之间的选择导致了冲突。本文以促进司法独立与新闻自由的良性互动的应然关系为主旨,首先,界定了新闻自由的内涵并从多个角度探究了新闻自由存在的理论基础;其次,总结了新闻自由在司法领域内行使的法律及理论依据,再次主要以美国的相关司法实践为基础,研究了新闻自由与司法独立之间冲突的表现及发展;最后,本文立足于中国的国情和现状,提供了认定新闻自由不当行使的标准及司法对策。     

The Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War and on Enforcement of Penalties and its Contribution to International Criminal Justice After World War II

This article traces the evolution of discussions within the Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War and on Enforcement of Penalties and the United Nations War Crimes Commission regarding the establishment of an international criminal court. The Commission on the Responsibility of the Authors of the War and on Enforcement of Penalties was the first war crimes commission that seriously debated establishing an international criminal court for the prosecution of war criminals. Following the discussions held in the UNWCC, the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg was created. All three institutions played a major part in the development of international criminal law.     

Mobilizing Truth: Agenda Setting in a Transnational Social Movement

This article provides a neoinstitutionalist account of how a transnational social movement (TSM) sets its agenda. A theoretical framework is presented to reveal how logics from the transnational and local organizational fields influence legal mobilization. To provide insight into how a TSM accommodates contradictory and competing logics within and between these fields, this article examines mobilization around a fact‐finding commission, sometimes called a truth commission, to address the ongoing social and political divides in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The findings, based on fieldwork conducted between 2009 and 2011, are used to develop the theoretical concept of a quasi‐judicial medium, a legal body that, initially, will appeal to a variety of actors, but may be unable to adequately address existing divides. The conclusions point to further directions in the study of transnational legal mobilization, particularly the conditions under which the ambiguity of a movement strategy helps meet and/or moderate movement goals.     

Rejoinder to Professor Ruback's article: Warranted and Unwarranted Complexity in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

Professor Barry Ruback critiques the U.S. sentencing guidelines for their complexity, their lack of articulated purpose, and their unreliability. In a brief rejoinder to the complexity argument, this article points out that the complexity of previous sentencing practices helped drive the complexity of the guidelines the federal Sentencing Commission developed. Further, it notes that while the commission failed to articulate a philosophical purpose to the guidelines, the commission did develop guidelines that are a modified just desert model. Finally, the complexity of the guidelines does increase the risk of miscalculation and thus unreliability compared to simpler guidelines, but this discussion shows that a fairer benchmark is to past sentencing practices.     

治外法权与中国司法近代化之关系——调查法权委员会个案研究

中国司法近代化与治外法权问题紧密相关,调查法权委员会及其报告书是近代中国撤废治外法权的一个阶段性标志。通过考证调查法权委员会组织的前后经过,对作为调查结论的报告书内容进行分析,可以认为该事件强化了近代中国自学习西方法律和司法制度以来一直存在的为废除治外法权而改良法律和司法的论证逻辑;导致了在此之后发动民众,以运动的方式参与法律和司法事务的先河,从而对中国法律和司法近代化产生了深远影响。     

The Landed Estates Court,Ireland

The Landed Estates Court was the successor to the Incumbered Estates Commission, which had been established in the hope of providing a solution to the problems in Ireland which arose from the ownership and occupation of land. Initially controversial, the Commission had proved in the long run successful. The Landed Estates Court continued the work of the Commission, but unlike its predecessor was established as a permanent tribunal. This article aims to explain how the Court came into being, to consider the work it carried out, and to afford some understanding of the judges who sat in the Court and the issues with which they had to contend.     

Paying for the Past: Redressing the Legacy of Land Dispossession in South Africa

The constitution of South Africa mandates equitable redress for individuals and communities evicted from their properties during colonialism and apartheid. The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights' institution‐wide assumption is that the financial awards given as equitable redress had no long‐term economic impact on recipients because the money is gone and they are still in poverty, whereas if people had received land, the economic impact would have been lasting. Consequently, in recent years, the commission has adopted a policy of using its soft power to force claimants to choose land restitution instead of financial awards. However, the interviews I conducted with financial award recipients show that in 30 percent of the cases, the award did produce a long‐term economic benefit because respondents invested in their homes. This empirical evidence suggests that the commission should rethink its recent shift in policy and not totally discount the potential of financial awards to produce a lasting economic benefit.