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Times Union — A shield law now

Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
First published: Friday, May 4, 2007

A renewed bipartisan effort is under way in Congress to prevent federal prosecutors and judges from threatening journalists with jail if they refuse to reveal their confidential sources. Passage can't come soon e

Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
First published: Friday, May 4, 2007

A renewed bipartisan effort is under way in Congress to prevent federal prosecutors and judges from threatening journalists with jail if they refuse to reveal their confidential sources. Passage can't come soon enough.

Sources who want to expose wrongdoing often find that they have nowhere else to turn but the press. Often they make a call to a newsroom, or arrange to meet a reporter at a secret location. They may carry evidence, such as grand jury testimony, with them. And they demand a pledge of confidentiality in exchange for telling what they know.

It's a system that has served the American public well, and it's one that some reporters, notably Judith Miller, formerly of The New York Times, have to gone to jail to honor. It's a system that also was responsible for informing Americans about a baseball steroids scandal in 2004, thanks to the enterprise of two reporters at our sister paper, The San Francisco Chronicle. They promised confidentiality to a source who provided them with federal grand jury testimony that named such luminaries as the Yankees' Jason Giambi, who admitted using steroids, and the San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds, who denied knowingly taking the drugs. The Chronicle's revelations led to tougher drug testing rules in the major leagues.

If it had been a state matter, the reporters who broke the scandal, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, would have been protected in all states except Wyoming either under shield laws or court rulings that prevent prosecutors from hauling them into court to make them identify their source. But those laws don't apply to federal cases and, until recently, that placed Mr. Fainaru-Wada and Mr. Williams at risk of prosecution. They were spared when their source voluntarily identified himself.

But now here is hope that reporters won't have to rely on luck to stay out of jail in the future as a bipartisan group of lawmakers has reintroduced a federal shield law that would prohibit the federal government from forcing journalists to reveal their sources without first proving a need to do so. For example, reporters could still be forced to identify their sources if it can be shown that disclosure is necessary to prevent imminent harm or protect national security. But the fishing expeditions of the past would be just that -- things of the past.

The sponsors are Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. In the House they are Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., and Rep. Rich Boucher, D-Va. Although they have failed to move the bill in recent years, this represents the first attempt at passage under Congress' new Democratic leadership. Now is the time for those leaders to show they stand for the public's right to know.

Pass this bill.

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