The imperial justice

Scripps Howard: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's relations with the press have always been strange.
Last year, he insisted that TV cameras be barred from a luncheon where he was given a free speech award for his efforts on behalf of the First Amendment.
However, what happened when he spoke to a Mississippi high school went over the line, even putting aside for a moment the proposition that the press has a right to cover public officials appearing in public venues.
Two local reporters had been invited by the school to cover Scalia's speech, which they did until a deputy U.S. marshal, Melanie Rube, demanded their tape recorders and snatched one of them. She erased one reporter's tape and forced the other reporter to erase hers. It is unclear whether Rube did so at Scalia's behest or not, but with any law enforcement officer there is always the implicit threat of force.
Federal law
What does seem clear is that the action violated a 1980 federal law, the Privacy Protection Act that protects reporters' notes, tapes and photos from seizure by federal officials. There are exceptions, but they are few and require an OK from the attorney general.
Earlier that day, Scalia spoke at a local college. The school told local TV crews that they couldn't cover the speech but could cover the reception afterward. When Scalia saw the TV crews he demanded they be evicted.
So he's not only a little shaky on the laws governing reporter's notes, he's ill-mannered as well.