According to reports, the emails are only available under the law because of the professors’ faculty status. Jeremy C. Young, senior manager of free expression and education programs at PEN America, said in response to the news: “Attorney General Schmitt’s request for the emails of two journalism professors appears to be little more than an effort to intimidate and silence both university faculty and the professional journalists with whom they correspond. Instead, Schmitt is misusing Missouri’s sunshine law, a laudable transparency measure, to violate the academic freedom of faculty and chill the speech of journalists. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.

Source: The Guardian September 08, 2022 18:34 UTC