Assange

The First Amendment protects journalists using Snowden’s documents. But what about Snowden?

I am often asked whether Edward Snowden’s leaking of classified documents about NSA surveillance programs is protected by the first amendment. My answer is no, his handing over of classified information to reporters at The Guardian, the Washington Post and the New York Times enjoys no constitutional protection or privilege. Snowden is a source who leaks information, not a journalist who receives leaks. The difference is crucial: in the transaction between source and journalist, constitutional

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Despite the complaints of blogger-critics, new federal shield bill is last best chance for meaningful protection of reporters’ confidential sources.

For the first time since the post-Watergate era, the stars are aligned for Congress to enact–and for the President to sign–a “Shield Law” that would provide meaningful protection against the forced-exposure of journalists’ confidential sources. Although nearly all states have shield laws, they do not apply to the subpoenas of federal courts and federal grand juries: a big gap in coverage that inevitably restricts news reporting on controversial matters involving the federal government. News of

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