Our View First Amendment prevails

Attorney Andrew Shubin called the case “doomed from the beginning,” yet a Daily Collegian photographer faced misdemeanor charges for months after the October 2008 downtown State College riot.

Michael Felletter was doing his job, yet police said his pictures were making the crowd more rowdy and that he didn’t leave the scene when they ordered.
District Attorney Michael Madeira pursued the case, maintaining that Felletter had no more right to be there than any other student, and you thought all along that he might have something on Felletter to merit the charges.
Why else would he get involved in a clear First Amendment case?
“In the U.S., we don’t arrest the press for covering major events and protests,” Shubin said.
Madeira marched on for months, but, like other cases, when it came time for the hearing there was no real case. President Judge David E. Grine dismissed both misdemeanors on Wednesday.
Madeira says he’ll review Grine’s decision and decide whether to appeal it or refile charges.
There’s no reason to waste more taxpayer money on this case. Madeira would be better off, as suggested by Shubin, to “reread his copy of the Constitution.”
Centre Daily Times Opinion Page, 7/28/09