Prior Restraint

Prior restraint is the idea that governments can restrict speech, forbidding it to be said, published, or broadcast. This has been rejected by our government numerous times, most notably in the Pentagon Papers case.

The NYT has an article today about Disney's attempt to prevent Miramax from releasing Michael Moore's new film. Now obviously Disney isn't the government, but after reading about the motives behind not releasing the film, it sure seems an awful lot like they are intimidated by the government.

"Mr. Emanuel said Mr. Eisner expressed particular concern that it would endanger tax breaks Disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures in Florida, where Mr. Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor."

Scary. Let's hope Mr. Eisner isn't married to a CIA operative - the Bush clan might release that information too.