Gene Policinski: When and why we need to hear 911 calls

  The word "restraint" and the First Amendment usually exist in uneasy tension.

  The 45 words of the First Amendment don’t include it. The Pentagon Papers case in 1971 settled the issue of "prior restraint" by the government on what the press may publish: Nothing doing.

  Many critics of the news media slam news outlets for a lack of it, from graphic TV images beamed live from car chases to unrestrained paparazzi photographers stalking celebrities. And in the digital age, whole new ethical controversies have arisen over images being captured and distributed via the ubiquitous presence of cell phone cameras.