Journalists who come too close to oil spill clean-up efforts without permission could find themselves facing a $40,000 fine and even one to five years in prison under a new rule instituted by the Coast Guard late last week.
It's a move that outraged observers have decried as an attack on First Amendment rights. And CNN's Anderson Cooper describes the new rules as making it "very easy to hide incompetence or failure".
Actually, the snarky "Worst Persons" title fails to underscore how ridiculous this is. I sincerely hope the various news organizations will take this to court on 1st Amendment grounds.