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10-15-07 00:00 Age: 15 hrs
Measure To Shield Reporters' Secret Sources Likely To Pass
Category: Lexis Nexis - AC, PG News & Updates, Acc News & Updates, Main AC RSS Feed, AC - Whats New BY: USA TODAY

KATHY KIELY

WASHINGTON -- A House bill that would help reporters protect confidential sources will pass easily this week, supporters say, despite opposition from the Bush administration.

"I believe we'll have a strong bipartisan vote," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., the bill's co-author.

The Justice Department sees the proposed reporters' shield law, as it is called, as an obstacle to law enforcement. It could "seriously impede our ability to investigate and prosecute national security matters," spokesman Peter Carr said last week.

Even so, the bill has attracted an unusual right-left coalition.

Liberal Democrats, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have joined conservative Republicans, such as Pence, to support the bill. Although no floor vote has yet been scheduled in the Senate, the chamber's Judiciary Committee this month approved its version of the shield bill by a 15-2 vote.

News organizations have been pushing for a federal law to protect reporters' sources since the Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that the First Amendment gives journalists no right to refuse to name them. Backers say the House vote represents a major breakthrough. "It's kind of a 'pinch me' moment," Pence said.

It comes the same week that the Senate opens confirmation hearings for President Bush's nominee to be attorney general, Michael Mukasey. The former federal judge worked as a reporter for United Press International while he was in college and later represented The Wall Street Journal and the New York Daily News. On the bench, he ruled against forcing a TV reporter to provide outtakes of an interview to a defendant in a civil lawsuit.

Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, is hopeful Mukasey will soften the administration. "I would not expect him to come out and support this, but I would not see him making an effort to destroy it," she said.

The House bill would prohibit courts and federal prosecutors from forcing journalists to reveal sources except in cases where the information is vital to protecting national security or to prosecuting a crime and is not available by any other means. The bill defines journalists as those "regularly involved in newsgathering" and making "substantial income" from it, said Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., the bill's other co-author. He said that would cover some, but not all, bloggers.

Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have enacted similar shield laws. More than 50 news organizations, including Gannett, owner of USA TODAY, support a federal shield law. Sponsors say it will benefit more than the news media.

"The basic reason we're passing this is to protect the public's right to know," Boucher said. He argued that whistle-blowers will be discouraged from talking to reporters if they fear their identities might be disclosed.

Opponents argue that not all leaks involve people risking their jobs to expose wrongdoing. One recent case involved Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who was accused of leaking the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame. Libby was convicted of perjury, but Bush commuted his sentence.

"There's got to be accountability so people will think about it before they go out and hurt people," said Brian Sun, a lawyer who represented Wen Ho Lee. Lee, a scientist, won more than $1.6 million in a suit that alleged the government smeared him by leaking information that he was stealing U.S. nuclear secrets for China. The espionage charges against Lee were dropped.

Bush administration officials argue the bill could hurt their fight against terrorism. Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, a deputy director of national intelligence, said a shield law "would make it very difficult to enforce criminal laws involving the unauthorized disclosure of classified information."

The Justice Department argues that the news media have plenty of protection. Federal prosecutors subpoena reporters "very rarely," Carr said. He said the department has sought reporters' confidential sources 19 times since 1991.

That figure does not, however, include subpoenas from special prosecutors and attorneys for private clients. By Dalglish's count, at least 40 reporters have been subpoenaed to turn over confidential information in the past three years, and courts tend to rule against the journalists.

Refusal to comply with the court has resulted in long jail sentences for some journalists. Joshua Wolf, a freelance videographer who refused to turn over tape of a protest to federal authorities, served 226 days.







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