European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 17, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes James j. Kilpatrick monday october 17, 1977 criminal code changes better still not enough ten years of hard and thoughtful work have gone into the pending Bill for re codification of the Federal criminal code. Regretfully this has to be said the Spon sors need to put in a few months More. In its present form the measure simply will not do. I offer that opinion reluctantly. The pending Bill s. 1437, is an enormous improvement Over the ill considered s. 1 of the 94th Congress. Few persons question the need for wholesale revision and modernization of a criminal code that has been patched together in bits and pieces Over nearly 200 years. The principal sponsors senators Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and John Mcclellen of Arkansas have done a generally commendable Job. The Good aspects of the Bill Merit emphasis. For the first time it is Here pro posed to establish firm guidelines for sentencing in criminal cases. The Bill would establish five classes of felonies and three classes of misdemeanours. As a Gen eral proposition judges would have to impose sentences according to policies Laid Down by a new sentencing commission. The procedures should go a Long Way toward eliminating the aberrations of judges who get too hard or too soft on guilty defendants. In terms too Clear to be misconstrued the Bill lays Down the extra punishment that must be imposed for use of a firearm in committing a Federal crime the court May not sentence the defendant to Proba Tion but shall sentence him to a term of imprisonment of not less than two  two year term must be imposed in addition to any other sentences and cannot be served concurrently. The pending measure Junks some exist ing Laws that should have been junked Long ago the Smith act the Logan act thelast vestiges of the Comstock act. In their place we would have sensible provisions dealing with espionage treason and inter state Commerce in obscene materials. The simple Possession of less than 10 Grams of the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government. Marijuana would be left to the states to prosecute according to state Law. Many other desirable features deserve applause. The proposed revisions would simplify 70 confusing Federal statutes having to do with theft the statutes Deal ing with attempted crimes would be beefed up Laws on bail jumping loan sharking and racketeering would be strengthened. Fifty perjury statutes would be condensed to three. There is much that is Good. But in certain Broad areas areas unusually subject to abuse because of their very Broadness the drafters of s. 1437have gone too far. Whether wittingly or unwittingly they have forged weapons that malicious prosecutors and despotic judges could put to terrible use. We of the press May perhaps be forgiven John p. Roche a certain sensitivity in these areas. We have seen tin pot tyrants on the Federal Bench impose gag orders As in Baton Rouge six years ago that had to be obeyed under pain of contempt even though the orders were blatantly unconstitutional. We have seen reporters sent to jail for refusal to disclose the names of confidential sources. The pending Bill imposes no effective restraints upon such judges. Indeed the Bill authorizes a judge to impose a three year prison term plus Fine in any amount deemed just by the court upon reporter who protects a source. Senator Kennedy denies that his Bill would permit any such thing but unless words have lost their meaning that is exactly what his Bill would  Bill presents dangers not Only to the press but to everyone else. Section 1861, for example gives startling authority to any Public servant meaning any Feder Al bureaucrat in times of flood or riot. Sec Tion 1323, purporting to Deal with witness tempering is phrased so broadly that it might punish any act with intent to improperly influence the conduct of a Legisla Tive  the civil rights sections of the Bill might Well be construed to make Federal crimes of virtually any misconduct involving speech or Assembly. The offending sections of the pending Bill can be repaired. Provisions that Are alarmingly Broad can be carefully Nar rowed. With further thought the sponsors can protect the people from despots on the Bench. This Bill is very close to being a Good Bill but it now suffers a fatal defect it is not close enough c Washington Star it s time to probe Media Power the adage that doctors unlike the rest of us can Bury their mistakes has not lost its punch. It is now Clear that journalists Media commentators and television Pon tiffs have the same privilege. The Case in Point is Peter Braestrup s two volume study the big Story How the american press and television reported the crisis of tet 1968 in Washington and Vietnam Freedom House Westview press the meticulous Case study of Media in competence if not malevolence was published in july. From the greeting it received Freedom House might As Well have launched it from a submarine at 2 . Edith Efron devoted two to guide analyses to it i wrote on it Here a handful of other precincts reported and then silence. Not Only have the networks never responded but one of the major pieces of investigative reporting and first rate scholarship of the past Quarter Century did not rate mention m the new York times Book review. Not that this reaction was wholly unanticipated. When the project which amounted to collating All Media coverage of tet and comparing it with cold facts was conceived efforts were made to obtain foundation  Braestrup after All had a distinguished track record As a reporter in Viet Nam and elsewhere and surely an unbiased exploration of How accurately the press and television mirrors reflected one of the traumatic moments of the Vietnam War and the Johnson administration was worthy of subvention. To make a Long Story Short the foundations weren t funding the head of one brusquely informed free Dom House the task could not be accomplished it was impossible. Convinced the Job needed doing free Dom House and Braestrup proceeded operating on a succession of shoestrings. It took Over six years of painful Microanalysis and endless attention to accuracy but Braestrup pulled it off. If i had my Druth you what iltont6avteacher mine Bye Plato \ sorry Socrates. Ers he would be awarded a . On the spot his research made most doctoral dissertations look like children s books. In fact i suspect his devastating accuracy led Many an editor to writhe a bit then Send the set to the nearest second hand Book shop. If they could have caught Braestrup with even his semicolons Down the boys would have started shooting. To return to the major theme we All make mistakes and hate to be caught up. But this is an occasional accidental pro Cess. I attributed a remark to Lincoln a while ago and half a dozen civil War buffs promptly straightened me out. It was Robert e. Lee who observed when he heard Union general John Pope had his Headquarters in the Saddle that he had his Headquarters where his hindquarters ought to be. Sorry about , the disposal of Braestrup s masterpiece and i do not throw words like this around was Light years above the overlooking of minor errors. What he demonstrated was the Power of the american Media As a private government. One is inclined to chuckle at the chutzpah of news week solemnly deciding As it were to break diplomatic relations with the government of the United states. But did it make a difference As Braestrup s study of time s far More accurate cover age indicates. Indeed much of Braestrup s Rich Docu mentation was obtained with the encouragement of reporters in the Field out covering the actual tet offensive which we won hands Down who were infuriated by the Way their files were doctored by Home offices with an anti Johnson Mission to Ful fill. A journalist Friend of mine a Fine War correspondent noted for his fairness later told me that when he filed his takes he ran contrapuntal paragraphs the first would set out . Strengths the second our failures and so on. When his stories appeared alternate paragraphs were omitted guess which  Braestrup had documented a massive Media cover up of Richard Nixon and his Myrmidon an enormous howl would have Arisen Complete with demands for an investigation. Two foundations would have rushed to sponsor private nonpartisan commissions loaded with eminent citizens to conduct an inquest. A 90-minute to Spe Cial would Rush Bill Moyers to the scene of the crime. Instead the reaction has been silence. The networks which really got a pasting Haven t even bothered to  sensible action would be an investigation by a congressional committee. The first amendment surely does not bar the legislature from discovering the extent of Media Power of analysing the Workings of these private governments. But congresses terrified of the Media so that s a non starter. I guess Well just have to follow world War ii procedure look up the Chap lain and get our cards punched