Free Republic

We're making great progress, but there's still much work to be done. So if you've contacted your elected official, thank you, but please continue to make your voice heard. And if you haven't, we greatly need your help to protect the future of premium handmade cigars. It's easy to sit back and imagine that this problem will fix itself, or that enough others will act and your single support is unnecessary. But the truth is, this battle is far from over. The threats are real and the potential outcome is frightening. Cigars, premium cigars, the which you regularly enjoy are...

Mindful of the jailing of New York Times reporter Judith Miller, reporters are increasingly wary of pursuing stories based on confidential sources and need the protection of a federal "shield" law, a panel of journalists told the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. U.S. Justice Department officials told senators, however, that they strongly oppose such a shield law, saying it is unnecessary and harmful to national security because it could prevent prosecutors from obtaining potentially vital information. Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., indicated yesterday that he doesn't accept the Justice Department argument and plans to try to win his panel's approval...

<p>Supreme Court justices used a 1986 abortion case to debate the limits of political protests yesterday, professing skepticism as to whether protests that shut down a business could be called extortion.</p> <p>At issue was Joseph Scheidler v. National Organization for Women (NOW), in which a jury found two pro-life groups and three individuals guilty of using extortion to shut down abortion clinics.</p>