Wow

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch responded a few minutes ago to my request for information, in a way that can only be described as extremely disappointing.

Here’s their statement: Post-Dispatch Seeks Juvenile Court Records.

In response to a number of inquiries today, I wanted to confirm that the Post-Dispatch filed a petition last week with the St. Louis County Family Court seeking the release of any juvenile court records it may have relating to Michael Brown. The court filing is just one avenue of many in our continuing commitment to cover a significant news story for our community. We have taken this action as a professional news organization, independently and not in conjunction with any other organization, as we seek to report facts and not rely on innuendo or speculation.

Note that this statement specifically contradicts the claim made by blogger Chuck C. Johnson:

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is working with http://t.co/6ZmImWVHGp suit to release #MichaelBrown but sure I’m not a journalist or something. — Charles C. Johnson (@ChuckCJohnson) August 29, 2014

But regardless, there’s absolutely no way that this information is relevant to the current police shooting case. Juvenile criminal records are sealed for a very good reason — to prevent exactly this kind of character assassination. It’s disgusting to see the St. Louis Post-Dispatch join the right wing effort to poison the well and smear a dead 18-year old.