Free Republic

I hope this column is outdated by the time you read it. Ordinarily, it is the bane of a columnist's existence, the fear that his words will become obsolete between the time of his writing and your reading. But in this case, that would be the happiest possible outcome, because it would mean Jim DeFede had his job back. That he lost it in the first place is a travesty.

NEW YORK The firing of a Miami Herald columnist for secretly taping a phone conversation with a county commissioner minutes before the public official's suicide in the newspaper's lobby has raised questions about whether his actions constitute a fireable offense. Although Florida law prohibits the taping of anyone's phone conversation without their consent, legal experts differ over how that might apply to a reporter. Herald staffers, meanwhile, have expressed concern that the columnist, Jim DeFede, might have been fired too quickly by editors who were responding under duress from the suicide. Strictly interpreted, the law seems to indicate that DeFede...

Metro columnist Jim DeFede said he taped a phone conversation with Art Teele hours before the politician shot himself. Executives said they fired DeFede because taping is illegal without consent. The Herald fired columnist Jim DeFede Wednesday because he tape-recorded a phone conversation with Arthur E. Teele Jr. without his knowledge. Teele had killed himself in The Herald's lobby earlier in the day without ever knowing that the columnist recorded their conversation. Both Publisher Jesús Díaz Jr. and Executive Editor Tom Fiedler said they fired the popular Metro writer because it is illegal for anyone to tape a conversation with...