About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

12 W. St. U. L. Rev. 217 (1984-1985)
The First Amendment, the Press and the U.S. Invasion of Grenada: Balancing the Constitutional Interests

handle is hein.journals/wsulr12 and id is 223 raw text is: The First Amendment, the Press and the U.S. Invasion of Grenada: Balancing the Constitutional Interests Where the press is free, and every man is able to read, all is safe.' Thomas Jefferson There is a real danger if we accept the media's version of what constitutes freedom of the press. For should the court ever sanction the view that the media is the legitimate watch dog over government on our behalf, who will watch the watch dog?2 Steven Cann INTRODUCTION On October 24, 1983, the President of the United States signed the final orders for the invasion of Grenada. By dawn of the following day, United States troops landed on the shores of the Island of Gre- nada. This was a moment of crisis in our nation's affairs from which the press-bastion of the First Amendment-was excluded. There have been other occasions when the press has been invited and even encouraged to take part in historical moments: on June 6, 1944 when the U.S. invaded Normandy; again during the 1962 Cuban missile cri- sis; and even more recently, in 1965 during the entire involvement in the armed conflict in Vietnam.3 However, in 1983 the press was excluded from Grenada until ap- proximately 48 hours had passed after the initial attack had taken place. For this period of time, the American public, as well as most of the world, was wholly without independent reporting of what was or had actually taken place on this tiny Caribbean island. The only in- formation that the public was given during the first 48 hours came through the Department of Defense Television Network that was pro- 1. KOCH, PHILOSOPHY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, 1957. 2. S. Cann, Drawing a Line on Freedom of the Press.- The Burger Court Picks Up the Chalk, 66 JUDICATURE 303, 1983. 3. See Generally, Schorr, lnvasion Deepens the Crisis of Public vs. The Press, L.A. Times, Nov. 11, 1983, at 7 col. 1; Middleton, Barring Reporters from The BattlefeIa N.Y. Times, Feb. 5, 1984 (Magazine), at 36.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most