Protect First Amendment Rights of Student Journalists

Cook County prosecutors re-investigating the 31-year-old case of Anthony McKinney have subpoenaed the grades, grading criteria, class syllabus, expense reports and e-mail messages of the journalism students who examined his case for the Medill Innocence Project.  This is a flagrant violation of the students' First Amendment Rights as journalists and their right to personal privacy.  The prosecutors' subpoenas should be quashed, and the State's Attorney's office should cease and desist this petty harassment.  Instead, prosecutors should focus on the investigation of whether McKinney was wrongfully convicted of a capital crime.