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Milford Daily News — A shield for reporters

The Milford (Mass.) Daily News
Aug 05, 2007

The I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby case, in which reporters were hauled before grand juries and the top aide to Vice President Cheney was sentenced to jail for having recollections that differed from theirs, underscored the need for a fe

The Milford (Mass.) Daily News
Aug 05, 2007

The I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby case, in which reporters were hauled before grand juries and the top aide to Vice President Cheney was sentenced to jail for having recollections that differed from theirs, underscored the need for a federal shield law.

The House Judiciary Committee has reported out a promising shield law, and the congressional leadership should try to see that it's enacted rather than, like earlier attempts, swept aside in the crush of last-minute legislation.

Journalists, no more than any other citizens, should not be exempt from testifying in criminal investigations. But in light of the constitutional protection of the press and, by extension, the process of newsgathering, they do deserve to be deposed only as a last resort.

The Justice Department opposes the shield bill, by Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and Mike Pence, R-Ind., insisting the department's own internal guidelines are sufficient. And those guidelines are indeed good.

Before the department will approve subpoenaing a reporter, the prosecutor must establish that he has a major case, that the reporter's information is critical to that case and that the information can be obtained no other way. Finally, the prosecutor must obtain explicit permission from the attorney general.

But in the CIA-leak case that entangled Libby, those guidelines did not apply because the investigation was in the hands of a special prosecutor outside the regular jurisdiction of the Justice Department. And that's why the federal shield should be a matter of law and not guidelines.

If the shield law had been applicable, a New York Times reporter might not have gone to jail for 85 days and President Bush would have been spared the embarrassment of having to commute Libby’s prison sentence.

Bring the shield law to a vote.

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