-Caveat Lector- http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010529/pl/scotus_congressman_s_call_1.htm l Tuesday May 29 11:08 AM ET Boehner's Legal Fight Over By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court effectively ended a lawsuit Tuesday that pitted a Republican congressman against a Democrat over disclosure of an illegally intercepted telephone call. Rep. John Boehner (news - bio - voting record), R-Ohio, wanted to sue Rep. Jim McDermott (news - bio - voting record), D-Wash., for allegedly disclosing a secretly recorded phone conversation among House GOP leaders in 1996. Without comment, the Supreme Court canceled a lower court's ruling that would have let Boehner's lawsuit continue. The justices directed the appeals court to resolve the dispute in light of the high court's ruling last week that a radio host could not be sued for playing a tape that was made illegally. Like McDermott, the radio host who ultimately made the conversation public was not the person who made the tape. Boehner alleged McDermott broke the law by leaking the contents of the conversation. McDermott contended he cannot be sued because he received the tape from someone else. Boehner sued after a Florida couple used a scanner to record a December 1996 conference call in which Boehner, then-Speaker Newt Gingrich and other House leaders discussed strategy involving announcement of an ethics committee finding against Gingrich. The couple gave the tape to McDermott, and the contents soon surfaced in news stories. The couple later pleaded guilty to unlawfully intercepting the call and were fined $500 each. Boehner's lawsuit accused McDermott of leaking the tape in violation of a federal wiretapping law that bars people from disclosing information they know was obtained by illegally intercepting a ``wire, oral or electronic communication.'' McDermott argued that he did not break the law by receiving the tape, and that punishing him for allegedly making it public would violate his free-speech rights under the Constitution's First Amendment. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in 1998, but the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) for the District of Columbia revived it in a 2-1 ruling in 1999. McDermott's duty not to disclose the tape stemmed from ``every citizen's responsibility to obey the law,'' one judge wrote. In the appeal acted on Tuesday, McDermott's lawyers said the case presented ``about as stark an issue of free speech as can be imagined: one political leader is seeking to punish another political leader for allegedly disclosing a conversation among the nation's top political leaders on a political topic.'' The case is McDermott v. Boehner, 99-1709. ======================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends ======================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
