LIMBAUGH: ENOUGH TIME

Rush Limbaugh's attorney keeps saying that his client is innocent. So why
does he keep acting as though his client is guilty?

Every court has decided that Palm Beach County prosecutors acted legally in
November 2003 when they obtained search warrants to seize the talk-show
host's medical records as part of an investigation into illegal use of
prescription painkillers. Six weeks ago, the Florida Supreme Court declined
to review lower courts' decisions that sided with prosecutors. Yet last
week, Roy Black was back before the judge who issued the search warrant,
arguing that Mr. Limbaugh, who broadcasts much of the time from Palm Beach,
should be able to decide which records the prosecutors will see.

Inside the studio where he fulminates for 15 hours a week, Mr. Limbaugh
rules. Outside that studio, the rules of society apply to Mr. Limbaugh,
whether he likes it or not. Since prosecutors had to persuade two judges
before getting the records, there is no great privacy issue here. The simple
concept is that no one can use privacy to shield evidence of a crime.

Presumably, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull will agree. The
decision is an easy one in every way. Mr. Black's motion asks that, if Mr.
Limbaugh doesn't get the records, a judge review them in private to
determine with prosecutors which ones are relevant to the investigation. As
this newspaper has noted, that's what State Attorney Barry Krischer has
agreed to all along. Despite what the talk-show host has claimed, as he
tries to shift attention from himself, Mr. Krischer's office seeks neither
to embarrass Mr. Limbaugh nor to score political points. The investigation
led to Mr. Limbaugh. After his housekeeper told The National Enquirer that
she gave Mr. Limbaugh large quantities of pills, the host underwent
treatment for addiction.

Think of what Mr. Black is asking. He wants Judge Barkdull to set a
precedent that suspects, not law-enforcement authorities, get to decide
which evidence might be used to prosecute them. Reading his motion, which
impugns the agents who obtained the warrants and attempts to cast doubt on
the idea that Mr. Limbaugh was "doctor-shopping," it seems that Mr. Black is
arguing a criminal charge before one has been filed.

If there is a need for that, it will come later. For now, the issue is
simply whether Judge Barkdull finally will allow prosecutors to continue an
investigation that has been stalled for 19 months. It will be a shock and a
jolt to state law enforcement if he rules any other way.