House Passes Shield Law For Journalists
WASHINGTON, DC (March 31, 2009) – The House on Tuesday passed by voice vote a bill to protect journalists from being compelled to reveal their confidential news sources.
Last week the House Judiciary Committee passed the Free Flow of Information Act (HR 985), sending it to the House for a full vote with House Judiciary Committee chair Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) promising "swift action" on the bill this year.
Last year the House overwhelmingly passed a similar bill with a vote of 398-21, but it stalled in the Senate at the end of the session after the Bush administration and their Justice Department opposed it, claiming it would give too much protection to whistle blowers and pose a threat to national security.
In February a similar measure was reintroduced in the Senate (S 448) by Sen. Alren Specter (R-PA), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (which also passed an identical bill last year by a strong bipartisan vote).
While he was a Senator and presidential candidate, a federal shield law to protect reporters was supported by President Barack Obama.
The National Press Photographers Association's Advocacy Committee has been encouraging the passage of a federal shield law for journalists for several years.
The House bill passed today would prohibit courts from seeking journalists' confidential sources unless there is a threat of imminent bodily harm, or there is a national security risk, or to prevent an act of terrorism, but in each case the need would be determined by a judge.
There are state shield laws or state court rulings that provide at least some protections for journalists in all states except for Wyoming, the Associated Press reports.
Last July more the 40 state attorneys general told the Senate's leadership that they support a federal reporters' shield law which would bring federal law into line with the laws of 49 states and the District of Columbia.
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