Agents Of Discovery A Report on the Incidence of Subpoenas Served on the News Media in 2001


State-by-state comparison of subpoenas served in 1997, 1999 and 2001

State Shield law? Survey responses Total subpoenas
1997 1999 2001 1997 1999 2001 1997 1999 2001
Alabama X X X 7 7 5 30 30 21
Alaska X X X 3 3 2 0 0 0
Arizona X X X 9 6 1 30 10 0
Arkansas X X X 8 10 5 2 19 3
California X X X 49 31 13 322 233 41
Colorado X X X 11 13 7 30 115 57
Connecticut   8 6 3 84 32 15
Delaware X X X 1 0 0 0 0 0
D.C. X X X 3 1 1 35 7 15
Florida X X 29 17 13 234 68 79
Georgia X X X 12 5 2 80 9 12
Hawaii 2 3 0 4 5 0
Idaho 4 3 2 0 7 6
Illinois X X X 29 21 15 131 52 77
Indiana X X X 16 21 12 62 51 31
Iowa 20 16 15 34 12 23
Kansas 11 7 9 13 1 1
Kentucky X X X 9 4 6 135 1 13
Louisiana X X X 12 11 5 81 61 39
Maine 5 2 1 9 9 1
Maryland X X X 7 5 5 20 14 19
Massachusetts 10 3 7 65 20 22
Michigan X X X 13 15 13 40 48 32
Minnesota X X X 12 10 5 41 10 9
Mississippi   11 6 6 26 12 29
Missouri   16 17 11 85 29 30
Montana X X X 8 3 4 4 1 1
Nebraska X X X 7 5 9 14 16 53
Nevada X X X 1 3 3 0 2 8
New Hampshire   3 2 2 1 1 0
New Jersey X X X 7 4 3 29 24 5
New Mexico X X X 6 5 1 0 11 3
New York X X X 23 17 12 188 119 53
North Carolina *  X 15 19 11 51 52 7
North Dakota X X X 5 4 5 8 0 1
Ohio X X X 23 11 8 96 5 4
Oklahoma X X X 12 9 7 13 12 9
Oregon X X X 7 9 8 14 5 8
Pennsylvania X X X 30 17 14 188 11 20
Rhode Island X X X 2 0 0 0 0 0
South Carolina X X X 7 7 8 19 23 12
South Dakota   6 3 6 1 15 6
Tennessee X X X 12 11 1 43 16 0
Texas   39 20 24 218 37 46
Utah   5 2 2 29 5 1
Vermont   10 3 3 1 2 0
Virginia   10 9 3 45 36 2
Washington   15 8 8 47 9 0
West Virginia   8 6 3 37 48 2
Wisconsin   16 19 10 83 21 7
Wyoming   3 1 0 3 0 0
TOTAL 30 31 32 597 440 319 2725 1326 823
* North Carolina’s shield law took effect in October 1999.


Agents Of Discovery A Report on the Incidence of Subpoenas Served on the News Media in 2001
Published by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
© 2003 The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. All rights reserved.
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