Rochester Democrat and Chronicle — Pass shield law

• By: ASNE staff
• On: 07/16/2007 15:44:20
• In: Shield law editorials

Congress should finally stop the targeting of reporters

Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle
May 24, 2007

The story of the filthy, vermin-invested warrens at the Walter Reed military hospital awoke Congress and the nation to the need for reform in the care of wounded veterans. Whether it did the same for the First Amendment remains to be seen.

America learned of the Walter Reed scandal because two newspaper reporters, working with confidential sources, broke the story in The Washington Post. If past is prologue, the reward from the Bush administration for the reporters may be subpoenas and prosecutorial intimidation disguised as legitimate investigation.

That has happened time and again in recent years from the Scooter Libby case to the National Security Agency wiretapping case, to the Wen Ho Lee case to the ongoing BALCO steroid case. In each of these, and others, reporters face the threat of a contempt citation and jail if they refuse to reveal the names of sources critical to their reporting. Any source revealed is a tear in the fabric of the First Amendment.

There is a reporter-shield bill in Congress, the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007, that should be enacted before judges and federal prosecutors have yet another chance to put a reporter in jail for upholding their freedoms.

This legislation has bounced around Congress for a couple of years, but the Libby case, during which a reporter was jailed for more than a month, and the BALCO trial, where two reporters may be ordered to reveal their sources, revived its fortunes.

This would not be a blanket shield. Reporters still could be compelled to testify if there is "imminent harm' to national security, if lives are at immediate risk, if trade secrets or health information would be compromised.

A majority of states, including New York, already have shield laws. However, the attacks on the press, in criminal and civil cases, have been largely in federal courts, and the reason is that the protections aren't in place. Prosecutors feel free to fish, and judges are backing them up.

There are more Walter Reeds out there.

Don't rely on the government to tell you about them.