Everything online journalists need to protect their legal rights. This free resource culls from all Reporters Committee resources and includes exclusive content on digital media law issues.
U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland has grantedDetroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter’s request to submit an in-camera affidavit explaining his reasons for invoking the Fifth Amendment.
Detroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter wants to explain privately to a federal judge in Michigan his reasons for invoking the Fifth Amendment to protect his confidential sources.
Texas lawmakers on Monday debated a proposed state shield law, the Associated Pressreported.
The Free Flow of Information Act, which would provide a qualified privilege for confidential sources, was discussed at the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee. This is the third session in which a shield law has been debated in Texas.
A state shield law for journalists in Kansas was voted down in committee on Wednesday and sent to a council for further review, The Associated Press reports.
A federal shield law that would protect reporters from testifying about confidential sources was re-introduced in the Senate on Friday, just two days after shield legislation was re-introduced into the House.
A federal shield law that would protect reporters from revealing confidential sources was re-introduced in Congress today.
The Free Flow of Information Act of 2009 is identical to the shield law that passed the House in the 110th Congress by a vote of 398 to 21. A similar bill was also approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 15 – 4, but died when the congressional session ended last year.
At a hearing today in federal court in Detroit, a judge delayed ruling on whether to hold Detroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter in contempt for refusing to reveal confidential sources, the paper reported.
A Virginia-based blogger is fighting a subpoena that seeks the identities of everyone who viewed an online article he wrote about a defamation lawsuit, the Citizen Media Law Project reports.
In court papers filed Wednesday, former federal prosecutor Richard Convertino called reporter David Ashenfelter’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment, in an attempt to keep from having to reveal his confidential sources, both “speculative” and “unreasonable.”
Detroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter filed papers in federal court in Detroit this week asking the judge not to hold him in contempt for refusing to reveal his confidential sources.
