New Shield Law Introduced in Congress
New Congress Brings New Attempt to Protect Reporters' Sources
A new proposed federal shield law has been introduced in Congress . Shield laws give journalists some limited protection when it comes to revealing sources. A shield law has never passed at the federal level. The push for shield laws by members of the professional journalistic community stems from a series of court cases from the early 1970s.
Branzburg v. Hayes and Associated Cases
The case that called for the passage of shield laws is usually considered to be Branzburg v. Hayes. In that case, reporter Paul Branzburg of the Louisville Courier-Journal had witnessed people manufacturing and using hashish. He was called to testify before a grand jury, but refused on First Amendment grounds, citing the need to protect the confidentiality of his sources in order to do his job. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment provided no such automatic protection. But, two other cases from around the same time, with similar conclusions prompted the desire to enact shield laws.
- Earl Caldwell of the New York Times refused to testify before a grand jury about interviews he conducted with the Black Panthers
- Massachusetts TV reporter, Paul Pappas, had also refused to testify about time he spent with the Black Panthers.
All three of these reporters had contempt of court charges againt them held up. States have enacted shield laws on an individual basis, with protections varying from state to state.
States with Shield Laws
37 states and the District of Columbia have at least some type of shield laws:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Washington, D.C.
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Washington
The most recent attempt to pass a federal shield law made it through the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008. It had not got to a U.S. Senate vote. Some have argued that a federal shield law would eliminate contradictions in the various state laws. Others argue that reporters are asking for privileges that no U.S. citizen has, as no one is free from providing information in a criminal proceeding. One matter that could complicate future attempts at passing shield laws in the United States is such phenomena as blogging, and open-content news sources that can transform ordinary citizens without journalistic training, into journalists.
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