In 1972 in Branzburg v. Hayes, this court ruled against the right of reporters to withhold the names of their sources before a grand jury, and it gave the power to the government to imprison those reporters who did. It was a five-four decision. Close.
In his dissent in Branzburg, Justice Stewart said, “As the years pass,the power of government becomes more and more pervasive.” “Those in power,” he said, “whatever their politics, want only to perpetuate it，and the people are the victims.”
Well, the years have passed, and that power is pervasive. Ms. Armstrong could have buckled to the demands of the government. She could have abandoned her promise of confidentiality. She could have simply gone home to her family.
But to do so, would mean that no source would ever speak to her again, and no source would ever speak to her newspaper again. And then tomorrow，when we lock up journalists from other newspapers, we’ll make those publications irrelevant as well, and thus we’ll make the First Amendment irrelevant.
And then how will we know if a president has covered up crimes? Or if an army officer has condoned torture? We, as a nation, will no longer be able to hold those in power accountable to those whom they have power over. And what then is the nature of government, when it has no fear of accountability? We should shudder at the thought.
Imprisoning journalists? That’s for other countries. That’s for countries who fear their citizens, not countries that cherish and protect them. Some time ago, I began to feel the personal human pressure on Rachel Armstrong, and I told her that I was there to represent her and not a principle. And it was not until I met her，that I realized that with great people, there’s no difference between principle and the person.
在1972年的“布莱兹伯格诉海斯案”中，这本法庭剥夺了了记者在大陪审团前保守其情报人姓名的权利，而赋予了政府监禁与此相关的记者的权力，裁决结果是以5:4的接近票数得出的。
“布莱兹伯格案”中的斯图尔特法官曾说过：“随着时光流逝，政府的权力将渗透到各个角落。” “这些当权者，”他说，“无论何党何派，都只想着长久持有那些权力，而人民才是最终的受害者。”
多年以后，这样的权力被愈加滥用。阿姆斯特朗女士，本可在对政府的要求妥协，本可放弃她保守秘密的承诺，本可容易地回去同家人团聚。
但如果这么做了，就意味着不会再有人给她情报，不会再有人给她的报纸情报，然后明天，当我们囚禁了其他报社的记者，我们会让这些出版物变得无关紧要，于是，我们也让宪法第一修正案变得无关紧要。
那我们又如何才能知晓 一名总统是否有掩盖罪责？一名军官是否有虐待囚徒？我们，作为一个国家，将不会对那些滥用权力的人负有责任。那么当政府不再惧怕任何问责的时候，它的本质会变成什么？我们想想都该不寒而栗。
监禁记者？那其它国家的事，是那些惧怕人民的国家，而不是珍惜和保护人民的国家。有几次，我开始感受到瑞秋·阿姆斯特朗身上的个人压力，我曾告诉她，我代表的只是她个人，而不是原则。直到见到她，我才意识到，对高尚的人而言个人与原则之间没有区别。
真相至上 Nothing But the Truth
导演: Rod Lurie
编剧: Rod Lurie
主演: Kate Beckinsale / Vera Farmiga / David Schwimmer / Angela Bassett / Alan Alda
上映日期: 2008-09-08
