Albus Dumbledore is a local journalist, writing for Bartleby's, an influential local newspaper published in Croton-Harmon. Bartleby's mostly focuses on local news, but occasionally ventures into investigative journalism, and has a long-running partnership with PROPUBLICA, a prestigious investigative journalism outfit.

20% of Bartleby's funding comes from charitable contributions. But much of its budget is funded by New York State, through a public entity called the New York Fund for Investigative Journalism.

In response to the Black Lives Matter movement, Bartleby's has tried to focus more of its journalism on social issues. Albus has been active in writing stories on these subjects, often partnering with Dedalus Diggle, another Bartleby's journalist.

On the morning of November 5th, Albus was working steadily on a couple of leads and following up on a few stories. But everything changed at 10:30am, when Bartleby's mail was delivered.

Along with the usual packages, Albus received one letter written from a pseudonymous source identified only as Edgecombe. Edgecombe's letter identified Edgecombe as a prisoner at a nearby Sing Sing penitentiary in Ossining.

Edgecombe's letter alleges that the new warden of Sing Sing, Fred Weasley, has spent the past five years pursuing an agenda of abuse, exploitation, criminality and racketeering using the prison labor force.

As Edgecombe describes it, the scheme works like this. Fred tasks the chief guard at Sing Sing, his brother George Weasley, with recruiting a group of prisoners with computer skills. Fred then finds tasks for New York State that these prisoner- programmers can perform; for example, entering tax data for the Comptroller.

According to Edgecombe's letter, before taking on a project for the State, Fred meets with a State contractor already performing the task. Fred then demands the contractor pay one-third of their contract profit to him personally. If they don't, he orders George to do the work for free for the State, voiding the contract.

In addition to the letter, Edgecombe's package to Bartleby's contained a black ledger with accounting details for Weasley's scheme.

Astonished by this information, Albus conferenced quickly with Dedalus. Dedalus had his doubts about the materialbut both men thought it worthy of publication.

So, the two journalists took the story to their editor, a woman named Bertha Jorkins. Jorkins instructed Albus to reach out to prison officials at Sing Sing for comment. In the meantime, Jorkins promised to reach out to PROPUBLICA.

Consequently, Albus left voicemail messages for Fred and George Weasley at 1:15pm. Neither returned his call; instead a man named Karkaroff called back. It was one of the strangest calls Albus ever had as a journalist. Here is a partial transcript:

Albus: Karkaroff: Albus: Karkaroff: Albus: Karkaroff: Albus: Karkaroff: Albus: Karkaroff: Albus: Karkaroff:

"So, Igor, do you work for Warden Weasley?" "Not exactly." "I'm not sure I understand..." "I am just saying to you, as a friend, don't publish the story." "Why? Is it false? Are you in a position to deny it?"

"That's not what I am saying." "Then what are you saying?" "I am just saying, I am looking out for you. Don't publish." "Is that supposed to be a threat?" "No. It's just some friendly advice." "Alright, let's try a different angle: can I talk to Ms. Edgecombe?" "I am ending this conversation now. Don't publish."

Investigative journalists like Albus are used to dealing with recalcitrant sources, but something about Karkaroff's tone frightened Albus. After consideration, he decided to take the night and sleep on the story; hoping that the morning would bring clarity.

It didn't. The next morning, on November 6th, Albus arrived at Bartleby's and was immediately summoned to a meeting with Dedalus, Jorkins and a federal agent named Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart explained that he was at the Bartleby's office at the request of the National Security Agency (NSA).

The NSA has reviewed the Edgecombe material, Lockhart says, and determined that publishing the material would compromise United States' national security interests. Lockhart instructs the paper to suppress the material.

Jorkins agreed immediately. "Bartleby's is about building community" she declared. "We are not going to put public safety in jeopardy." Dedalus sat silently throughout the entire meeting. Only Albus was furious.

"This is authoritarianism!" he shouted. "I will publish what I think is the truth!" "Not at this magazine." Jorkins immediately replied. "You're fired!"

After this distressing event, Albus was quickly escorted from the building. Alas, the Edgecombe material remained at his desk.

Two days later, on November 8th, Albus was sipping coffee and bemoaning his luck, when he received a text message instructing him to visit a local Tarrytown parking lot. There, a man speaking from the shadows identifies himself as Deep Malfoy.

Deep Malfoy claims that a conspiracy is afoot aimed at suppressing the Sing Sing story. He urges Albus to create his own newspaper and publish the story. Once that is done, Deep Malfoy claims he has further stories critical of the government he will leak to Albus.

Inspired, Albus creates his own newspaper, tentatively called "The Quibbler." He then applies to the New York Fund for Investigative Journalism for funding, specifically so that he can publish the Sing Sing story. But his application is rejected.

Incensed, Albus hires local attorney Theodore Nott to sue. On December 8th, Nott sues Bartleby's and New York State, alleging that Albus is entitled to his share of the money funding Bartleby's and has a right to publish material critical of the State. Nott also files a wrongful termination lawsuit against Jorkins, for good measure.

Albus' case is filed in state court, but New York removes to the Southern District of New York on December 22nd. New York explains that this is because it intends to argue that national security reasons foreclose publishing the Edgecombe material.

Aghast, Nott demands to know what possible national security issue could be at stake. The court schedules an in-camera hearing for January 15th. At that time, counsel for New York reveals that the prisoner-programmers are not prisoners at all, but rather secret American intelligence assets hard at work on digital projects for the United States government through the NSA.

Counsel explains that all the supposed "racketeering" that Edgecombe describes are strategies taken by Warden Weasley to make the NSA coding operation at Sing Sing seem like ordinary criminal activity.

Nott thinks this is totally preposterous, but the judge seems sympathetic. Unfortunately, because the hearing was in-camera, Nott can't think of a way to draw public scrutiny to the government's claims, even though he thinks that would likely undermine the defense.

But an opportunity to do just that emerges on January 16th, when Dedalus contacts Nott using the encrypted communication service Signal. Dedalus explains that he has been feeling terrible for weeks now about Albus' termination and that he has independently acquired a copy of the NSA's in-camera testimony. He offers to leak the NSA presentation, along with the Edgecombe material, to PROPUBLICA.

You are an assistant attorney, working at the law firm of Nott, Ogden & Podmore. Mr. Nott has asked you for your advice on his options in the case. Specifically, he asks you to help him research four questions:

(1) How strong is Albus' claim that the New York Fund for Investigative Journalism should fund The Quibbler?

(2) Was Bartleby's legally prohibited from publishing the Edgecombe material?

(3) Is this case properly heard in federal or state court?

(4) Would it be lawful for Dedalus to leak the NSA's in-camera argument for publication in PROPUBLICA?