Confidential sources

A West Virginia trial judge erred when she ordered a newspaper to reveal the identities of anonymous sources and documents in a defamation suit against the paper, the state’s highest court recently ruled.

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia returned the case to the lower court, which must identify and analyze each allegedly defamatory statement and the confidential source who made the statement separately.

West Virginia earlier this week became the 40th state, along with the District of Columbia, to provide statutory protection for subpoenaed reporters when acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed the state shield bill.

The law will take effect on June 10.

A newspaper in West Virginia is attempting to maintain its privilege to refuse to disclose confidential sources after a lower-court judge ordered the paper to reveal the identities of anonymous sources and documents in a defamation suit against the paper.

The Lincoln Journal, the defendant in the suit, appealed the judge’s ruling to the state Supreme Court in order to keep its sources anonymous in the case. The court heard oral arguments Tuesday.

A federal court in El Paso, Texas, ordered a reporter to testify in a pre-trial hearing last week as part of a federal prosecution of a Cuban anti-Castro militant accused of lying to federal immigration authorities and entering the country illegally.

Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a former high-ranking National Security Agency official with lying and obstruction of justice relating to an investigation into leaks made to an unidentified newspaper, The Associated Press reported.

Kansas became the 38th state to pass a state shield law for reporters today when Gov. Mark Parkinson signed the pending legislation, The Associated Press reported.

The law will take effect upon publication in the Kansas Statute Book.

The Kansas reporter who lost her job in early March, following a battle over a subpoena for her newsgathering materials, has won four awards from the Kansas Press Association, the Dodge City Daily Globe reported.

An Ohio county judge rescinded an arrest warrant for a local reporter after his confidential source revealed himself today, The Plain Dealer reported.

A Kansas reporter who previously fought to keep a confidential source from local prosecutors has now lost her job.

Reporter Claire O’Brien was terminated last week from her position at the Dodge City Daily Globe after a subpoena battle last month that ended when a criminal defendant accepted a plea deal. County prosecutors had been seeking testimony about O’Brien’s interview with the defendant and the identity of a source she quoted in her story about the case.

Dodge City Daily Globe reporter Claire O’Brien, who was previously fined for missing a court appearance, privately testified in Kansas court regarding a jailhouse interview with homicide suspect Samuel Bonilla.

The confidential source – who in fact never told O’Brien his real name – revealed his identity to prosecutors and police the day after O’Brien did not show up for court on Wednesday, the Daily Globe reported.