New York City – Lawsuit Filed That Bloggers Are Entitled To Press Credentials

New York City – The fight over press credentials, which has been brewing since at least last spring, finally came to a head today when attorney and public advocate hopeful Norman Siegel filed a lawsuit in federal court against Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly on behalf of three independent writers who had their requests for press pass renewals rejected.

The lead plaintiff is Rafael Martinez-Alequin, the gadfly blogger and part-time aide to outgoing Sen. Efrain Gonzalez, who is infamous for his press conference needling of various mayors and elected officials and is also party to Siegel’s slush fund lawsuit.

The others are David Wallis, a freelancer and author of a book entitled “Killed: Great Journalism Too Hot to Print,” and Ralph E. Smith, who publishes a law enforcement-focused Web site called The Guardian Chronicle.

In the suit, Siegel argues that the plaintiffs’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights have been violated, in part because without the press passes they are unable to access the events about which they want to write. He also maintains they were refused their rights to due process and equal protection.

At the heart of this case is the question of who should be recognized as a bona fide journalist at a time when the power of the MSM is slipping and the line between blogging and traditional dead tree reporting is become ever more blurry.

Siegel, who has filed two federal lawsuits against the administration over the past several days (the other being the one that challenges the term limits extension law), said he is not only seeking relief for these three plaintiffs, but also wants to see a change in the way press credentials are issued in the city.

“Why should the police department be the entity making this decision?” Siegel asked. “Really what’s at stake here is the constitutional right of a free press. Ironically, this is being done by Bloomberg from Bloomberg News…It is the same Bloomberg, isn’t it?