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Rochester Democrat and Chronicle — Pass federal shield law: Congress shouldn't recess before a key committee vote

Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle
July 31, 2007

This week represents perhaps the best and last hope for Congress this year to protect reporters and editors from overzealous federal prosecutors and judges seeking to pry loose the names of confidential sources.

Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle
July 31, 2007

This week represents perhaps the best and last hope for Congress this year to protect reporters and editors from overzealous federal prosecutors and judges seeking to pry loose the names of confidential sources.

Indeed, if the House Judiciary Committee fails to act by Wednesday on a reasonable, balanced bill safeguarding sources and, in a very real sense, the freedoms encapsulated in the First Amendment, there's no telling when lawmakers will return to this issue.

After all, Congress has been debating or, more commonly, ignoring various shield law proposals for many years. In contrast, 33 states, including New York, have shield laws in place. And have kept them there, for the simple reason that they serve the Constitution and the public.

Reporter shield laws have not kept state prosecutors from pursuing their cases. And New York's shield law has not resulted as some fear on the federal level in the publication or broadcast of trade secrets or the compromising of public safety.

What it has provided, and would on the federal level as well, is an avenue of information that is not controlled by government. The shield proposal is not open-ended it requires disclosure of sources when national security is at risk. And most important, it moves government out of the way of a free press. Just as the Constitution envisions.

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