The Police and the Law
| Published date | 01 July 1938 |
| Date | 01 July 1938 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X3801100301 |
VOL.
XI, NO.3
POLICE JOURNAL
JULy-SEPT.,
1938
The
Police and the Law
OFFICIAL SECRETS
Lewis v. Cattle
THE judgment inthecase of Lewis v. Cattle has led
to a spateof protests from newspapers as to the
"
menace"
and
"Star
Chamber
methods"
involved.
It
is suggested that
it
is a monstrous perversion touse the
Official SecretsActs" tocoverpurely Police information
".
The
National Union of Journalists passeda resolution
condemning theuse of theActagainst" working journalists
engaged in their normal duties ".Needless tosay the "free-
dom of the
press"
and the " ordered liberties inherited from
our forefathers" are also at stake.
What seems to have beenforgotten is thefact that the
case was merelyanother sordid instance in whicha journalist
by backstairs methods of one kind or another had obtained
confidential information froma government servant. What
Chief Constables all over thecountry are anxious to know is
why journalists who do thiskind of thing should be protected
whenanyoneelse whodid itwouldbe prosecuted without
question.
From
the Chief Constables' point of view it is
elementary that the newspapers should not publish the con-
tents of documents which they know,or have reason to believe,
to be confidential, nor should they publish any information
which is calculatedtobe of assistanceto criminalsor which
reveals thelines of investigation being followed by thePolice,
or which is bound to embarrass thoseengaged in the investiga-
tion of a case;or, worst of all,is calculated to interfere in any
way with thecourseof justice.
The
broad principle involved is theavoidanceof publica-
tion of matters contrary to thepublic interest. When will the
B 257
THE
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