Police unlawfully seize, then return, newsroom documents
By NEWS MEDIA UPDATE · ALASKA · Confidentiality/Privilege · July 13, 2006 Police unlawfully seize, then return, newsroom documents Unaware of a federal law restricting newsroom seizures, Anchorage police executed two warrants and seized photos and video of a weekend shooting, returning the materials after a newspaper attorney objected. July 13, 2006 · Anchorage police, armed […]
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Dow Jones asks court to unseal redactions in CIA leak case
NEWS MEDIA UPDATE · D.C. CIRCUIT · Confidentiality/Privilege · Nov. 4, 2005 Dow Jones asks court to unseal redactions in CIA leak case Explanations by witnesses and the special prosecutor in the Valerie Plame leak case prompted The Wall Street Journal’s parent company to ask the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., to unseal […]
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Contempt penalty against journalists overturned in Klaas case
Contempt penalty against journalists overturned in Klaas case 08/12/96 CALIFORNIA–A San Jose television reporter and news director will not have to go to jail for refusing to reveal the confidential source they used in reporting on a confession in the kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, the Court of Appeal in San Jose ruled […]
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Reporters Committee releases subpoena survey results
Reporters Committee releases subpoena survey results 03/22/99 VIRGINIA–Broadcasters receive the majority of subpoenas issued against the news media and comply with most of them, while newspapers receive fewer subpoenas and are more often successful at negotiating their withdrawal, according to a new report from The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Broadcasters received 71 […]
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Libby trial testimony ends after 10 journalists take stand
Click Here: Golf special NEWS MEDIA UPDATE · WASHINGTON, D.C. · Confidentiality/Privilege · Feb. 16, 2007 Libby trial testimony ends after 10 journalists take stand Several journalists testified for the prosecution and defense in the trial of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who is charged with perjury and obstruction. Feb. 16, 2007 · Testimony ended this […]
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Vanessa Leggett released from jail after 168 days
Vanessa Leggett released from jail after 168 days The independent book author was released after the grand jury’s term expired, not because a judge agreed that she had a First Amendment right to keep her material confidential. Author Vanessa Leggett was released early this morning from the Federal Detention Center in Houston after 168 days […]
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Reporters Committee urges Attorney General Ashcroft to drop pursuit of book author’s research
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press today urged Attorney General John Ashcroft not to issue another subpoena to Vanessa Leggett, the Texas book author who spent 168 days in jail on a civil contempt charge for refusing to comply with a federal subpoena demanding her confidential research. The letter asked Ashcroft to acknowledge […]
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"Citizenfour" filmmakers move to dismiss federal lawsuit
The makers of Citizenfour, the Oscar-nominated documentary film about Edward Snowden, have moved to dismiss a federal civil lawsuit that alleges they aided and abetted the “illegal and morally wrongful acts” of Snowden. Filmmaker Laura Poitras, her producers and the entertainment companies behind Citizenfour were sued in December by Horace Edwards, the 89-year-old former secretary […]
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Hawaii governor signs shield law
Gov. Linda Lingle signed Hawaii’s shield bill into law last week, providing new legal protection to journalists asked to disclose their sources and newsgathering materials in state courts. Both houses of the state Legislature unanimously passed the law in late April, just before heading into summer recess. Hawaii became the 36th state to offer a […]
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Right to cross-examine trumps reporter's privilege
The restriction of a criminal defendant’s cross-examination of a reporter who invoked his privilege not to testify, but was compelled to do so anyway, violated the defendant’s constitutional right to confront witnesses against him, a federal appellate court ruled earlier this week. The decision may implicate reporters' abilities to settle subpoena battles by agreeing to […]
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