European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 23, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday july 23, 1978 the stars and stripes Page 15 Tom Wicker Burger court Nixon s revenge remember when Highway billboard used to urge passing motorists to impeach Earl Warren in the interests of civility it must be hoped thai no such Dubi Ous Impo tunings will arise against War Ren Burger and the present supreme court. Nevertheless the Burger court does begin to look More and More like Richard Nixon s revenge although the four justices he appointed do not always vote As a bloc. Nixon left a powerful legacy the court s conservative nucleus direction and chief  recent decisions linked by first amendment considerations Are to the Point in one. The court ruled by a four to lure vote with two members abstaining that the press had no greater right of Access than the general Public to such govern ment facilities As jails and prisons. Chief Justice Burger pursuing a View of the press that must elate the Squire of san Clemente. Wrote that we must not confuse the role of the Media with that of the government and added this court has never intimated a first amendment guarantee of a right of Access to All sources of information within govern ment  notable Point however is that Nei ther the ruling nor the latter statement up William Safire Korea afe ending As expected the two year investigations by the House ethics committee and the Justice department into the corruption of the House of representatives by operatives of the South korean Cia is ending in a Way cynics predicted it would end with a hand Ful of former congressmen indicted and a handful of present congressmen slapped lightly on the wrist. Devotees of successful criminal cover  doff their hats reverently to speaker tip o Neill who quietly limited the Scop of the probe to Ben Civiletti of president Carter s department n political Justice who won powerful friends on the Hill in his botching of the investigation to special counsel Leon Jaworski icing of press clips who just did not have the gumption to go after the key witness that could Nave put 13 of our most powerful congressmen behind bars. That witness is former korean Ambas. Sador Kim Jong do now a private citizen in Seoul. Although the bribe takers could pretend that gifts and parties from Busi Nessman tone Sun Park were Legal Nosuch pretence u possible when a foreign ambassador slipped them thousands in Cash. Such payment violates article ii of the . Constitution and the men on the take knew exactly what fundamental Trust they were  it was pointed out a few weeks ago that Jaworski to speaker o Neill s in tense Relief would no longer seek ambassador Kim s presence under oath a High diplomatic official took me atop the Mountain to give me the big picture More important than putting a dozen lawmaking lawbreakers in jail went the explanation was the need to preserve the principle of diplomatic immunity. If the korean ambassador could be forced to testify under oath about his bribery of con Gressmen then our own ambassadors around the world would be vulnerable to to Cal prosecution for real or fancied  reasoning caused our Justice department to give up any attempt to bring Back the Vita witness and was responsible for the collapse. But that argument so readily embraced by politicians anxious to get rid Zofko regate before election time is spec ious. Nobody is suggesting that the protections of Diplomat be radically altered on the contrary the return of former Ambas Sador Kim for sworn testimony is the Only Way the traditions of an Alliance can be up  ally South Korea committed a grave and provocative act against the United states by inducing our Congress men to break our Laws. Voluntarily As a Good ally. South Korea should now help us determine which of our congressmen Are felons. We do not seek to punch their Diplo mat briber Only to get his truthful Testi Mon your troops have been in South Korea for a generation to protect that country from attack. We have a right to expect South Korea to help us protect our own institutions from attack and the successful subversion of the integrity of our Congress is surely such an attack. If the South koreans expect us to turn Over $1 billion Worth of military equipment to them in the next few years As is planned we can reciprocate by expecting their Active Aid in helping us expose and prosecute our congressional criminals. Our state department frets that we must not Embarrass our korean allies. The truth is that the embarrassment is More ours than theirs. If the koreans would like an apology for our bugging of their presidential mansion which was How we came to know of the bribery we should gladly Issue that apology turning Over to them the fruits of our eavesdropping As part of the general Clearing of the air. None of this is the cards of course a democratic Justice department and democratic majority in Congress is deter mined to keep a scandal involving mostly democrats from being fully revealed. If Jaworski were the Patriot he has Lon been cracked up to be he would ask for prime television time from the networks which he would promptly get to say something like this i have Good reason to believe that a least 13 of our most senior congressmen have broken the Law by taking bribes from a foreign ambassador. But i cannot prove my Case until Congress and the president take the action needed to produce the wit  action my fellow americans Jaworski should say. Is not to trim eco nomic Aid As has been done which is weak gesture to make it appear that we want our witness. That action would be to announce our intention to remove All . Troops and equipment from South Korea within 30 Days unless that nation tells us what we need to know about our Crooke congressmen. Write and phone your congressman to Day. Tell him you will not vote for him next fall if he is unwilling to get to the Bottom of this scandal. Get angry that s the Only Way you la get  cannot do this Job of exposing the felons alone. I need your help. Tell your con Gressman to Stop Pussy footing on this is sue and Start demanding that our ally actas an  Yoo amt jogs Imp plied Only to the press they applied to the general Public As Well. While there Are of course categories of information about which the Public in its own interest has no practical right to know the highest military secrets for example the chief Justice was not dealing with such exalted stuff. He was writing about Access to a California county jail. From a reporter s Point of View at least it would be bad enough had the court ruled Only that the press had no special claim to Access to a jail or prison. In practice the press does usually have More Access to government activities than the Genera Public. Let a tourist in Washington try to wander into the president s next news con Ference for instance and hell find that out nor could he get a working press Pashto the Pentagon or to the speaker s lobby off the House floor or to any number of other places to which the press is regularly admitted. And those weren t game show prize winners flying off to Bonn with car Ter. Such press Access has its obvious justification it is needed so that the general pub Lic going about its own business May be informed also about what the government is doing. Precisely Why that rationale should not be sufficient to provide report ers with greater Access to a jail or prison so that the general Public could learn about conditions there was not made Clear by Burger s opinion. Justice Potter Stewart concurring on different grounds dissented on that Point different terms of Access forthe press than for the Public might often be warranted by first amendment require ments he  the controlling Burger opinion held that neither press nor Public had Guaran teed rights of Access to jails and prisons. This is a double blow first to the rights of taxpaying citizens to know what is being done with their tax dollars and in their names second to the cause of prison re form to which Burger has paid much lip service. In the real world prisons and jails Inmany of which conditions Range from medieval to Barbaric Are built As much to keep the Public out As the inmates in. That Way administrators and guards can mini Mize Public interference with Day to Day operations As Well As Public pressures on them and on politicians to improve these forbidding institutions and their often disastrous effect on inmates. Note the . Court of appeals for the District of Columbia has just ruled that an inmate who flees a jail can be acquitted of escape charges if he can prove that bad jail conditions caused him to go Over the Wall. Would t it be More sensible to improve the conditions in another of its season ending cases another such season and we could be in done the High court also upheld the fed eral communications commission s Power which even the Justice department de Nied to reprimand a radio station for broadcasting dirty words when children might hear  Are numerous derisive statements to be made about this decision it could be interpreted to prevent afternoon Bible readings or Shakespeare performances anyone wanting to watch or hear an adult drama might have to stay up past Midnight to do it not everyone fewer and fewer people in fact considers All those word unspeakable most kids in the impression Able years Don t go to bed As Early As they did when the supreme court justices were children. And so on. It s sufficient however to say that the court gave the acc a degree of censorship authority Over the Content of broadcast ing and even though the current chair Man Charles Ferris says he has no intention of acting As a censor who knows who la succeed him appointed by what future Nixon and who knows to what subjects other than so called dirty words the court s ruling might someday be stretched to apply