Judge who ordered journalist jailed appointed to spy court By John Byrne
May 19, 2009 Justice who jailed Whitewater witness also picked The judge who ordered former New York Times journalist Judith Miller jailed for refusing to reveal her sources has been appointed to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Thomas F. Hogan, a federal judge serving on the District of Columbia District Court, was tapped Monday by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts is allowed to choose judges for the secret court, which oversees the National Security Agency’s wiretapping program. Hogan attracted controversy when he ordered Miller jailed for refusing to disclose a confidential source to a grand jury. Prior to the case, reporters’ sources were generally seen as protected, even though not formally codified by law. Miller is pictured above right. The judge said that the rights of journalists to protect confidential sources must be weighed against prosecutors’ power to demand testimony and investigate crimes. “I have a person in front of me who is defying the law and may be obstructing justice,” Hogan said when pronouncing judgment on Miller in 2005. He averred that allowing Miller to avoid testifying could put the judicial system “on a slippery slope to anarchy.” Another major decision Hogan ruled on is also controversial, and may have bearing in the current climate about eavesdropping. In 2006, the DC judge signed a search warrant allowing the FBI to search the offices of then Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), the only time in history a sitting member of Congress’ office has been raided. That decision may take on new meaning in light of the recent revelation that a prominent California congresswoman was caught on a wiretap allegedly promising to aid an Israeli national. That wiretap, purportedly conducted by the FBI as a part of an espionage investigation, raised hackles in Congress over the possibility that members of Congress have been wiretapped. Roberts also appointed a second justice to the FISA court. That judge, Republican Susan Webber Wright of Arkansas, made headlines in 1998 when she dismissed a sexual harassment lawsuit by Paula Jones against then-President Bill Clinton. Before dismissing the case, Wright allowed part of the suit to go forward, rejecting Clinton’s claim that the president had absolute immunity against the suit. Her decision was upheld on appeal. Wright also had a hand in rulings surrounding Whitewater and then-special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who investigated President Clinton in 1994 over failed real estate deals in the 1970s and 1980s. She imprisoned one witness for contempt of court when she refused to answer questions about whether Clinton had lied in his testimony. Susan McDougal served 22 months in prison. She was granted a full presidential pardon by Clinton in 2001. FISA court judges serve seven year terms. Hogan and Wright will replace District of Columbia District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly and Arizona District Judge Robert Broomfield. News of the two judges’ appointments were first reported by Secrecy News. Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to a congressman being tapped. It was in fact Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA). http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/05/19/judith-miller-judge/
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