Cook Corbett, Toast Totaro

Apparently, this started as a feud between Lancaster County District Attorney Don Totaro and county coroner Gary Kirchner over Totaro’s objection to the release of details in the murder investigation of Cortney Fry to the Intelligencer Journal. Now, however, it has evolved into something wholly other that I never thought I would see (I also thought I’d never see our national government build a case for war totally on lies, so that shows what I know).

So now, Totaro and Corbett have decided to seize hard disks from computers in the Intelligencer Journal’s newsroom as part of a grand jury investigation into whether or not Kirchner gave reporters for the Intelligencer Journal his password to access a restricted law enforcement web site.

Note: I know Corbett and Totaro aren't mentioned in the Inquirer story, but Senior Deputy Attorney General Jonelle Eshbach is instead. I can't imagine that she somehow wouldn't be working for Corbett on this, though.

William DeStefano, the lawyer for the reporters, nailed this:

"Permitting the attorney general to seize and search unfettered the workstations will result in the very chilling of information," DeStefano wrote. "Confidential tips, leads, and other forms of information will undoubtedly dry up once sources and potential sources learn that Lancaster Newspapers' workstations were taken out of its possession and turned over to investigations."

Maybe these two chuckleheads should reacquaint themselves with Pennsylvania’s Shield Law, particularly this paragraph:

No person engaged in, connected with, or employed by any newspaper of general circulation or any press association or any radio or television station, or any magazine of general circulation, for the purpose of gathering, procuring, compiling, editing or publishing news, shall be required to disclose the source of any information procured or obtained by such person, in any legal proceeding, trial or investigation before any government unit. Note: This statute also applies to radio and television stations as long as they maintain and keep recordings or transcripts of the actual broadcast or telecast available for inspection.

I would dismiss this as local yokel BS, but this is a battle that definitely must be fought on behalf of our right to be informed and act as responsible citizens of this country.