reporter’s privilege

Prosecutors seeking testimony of New York Times reporter in national security trial

Prosecutors in the case of a former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling accused of leaking classified information are attempting to reverse a lower court finding that a New York Times reporter James Risen was exempt from disclosing his sources for a story on a CIA program to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program. The government prosecutors claim that there is no right for reporters to withhold identities of sources in criminal cases. -db From a commentary in Secrecy

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Missouri: Federal appeals court rules reporter’s testimony should be allowed

The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a court could force a reporter to testify in a lawsuit against plastic surgeons. A woman brought the lawsuit against her plastic surgeons who gave her partially nude photos to  the reporter who worked for a Missouri newspaper. -db From The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, January 4, 2012, by Chris Healy. Full story    

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Opinion: WikiLeaks needs special recognition and protection

WikiLeaks would be at a disadvantage should it find itself in federal court trying to withhold the identity of a source since it does qualify for reporter’s privilege according to criterion laid out by a federal court of appeals in 1998. The appeals court said to qualify, a person must be practicing investigative reporting, gathering news and from the outset intend to disseminate the news to the public. In an op-ed in Wired, Jonathan W. Peters acknowledges

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Courts limit subpoenas of reporters doing good jobs

A federal judge has ruled that in suing Goldman Sachs, a couple cannot subpoena a reporter to show how easily a Wall Street Journal reporter obtained information. The couple had lost millions in a merger deal made with advice from Goldman Sachs. The couple claimed that the reporter had obtained crucial information that Goldman Sachs should also have been able to obtain. Douglas E. Lee of the First Amendment Center quotes the judge who ruled

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Former federal prosecutor loses case over reporter’s sources

A federal judge ruled against a former federal prosecutor claiming a confidential source from the Department of Justice violated his privacy rights by talking with a reporter. In his decision the judge said that the former prosecutor could not prevail in his case against the Department of Justice (DOJ) because he needed to show that the department “willfully violated his rights” under the Privacy Act and that the person leaking information to the press was

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