Shield Law

Media attorney Jeff Portnoy met with prosecutors and the Hawaii Attorney General’s Office this morning to try and come to an agreement on language for the state's shield law bill.

The state Senate Judiciary Committee was slated to vote on the bill today, but has postponed action until Tuesday because of the meeting.

A Phoenix TV station didn’t waive its right under the state shield law and doesn’t have to reveal the source of sealed documents it used for a story on a tire safety lawsuit, according to an opinion released Tuesday by the Arizona Court of Appeals.

A divided three-judge panel rejected Cooper Tire and Rubber Co.’s argument that KNVX-TV waived its reporter’s privilege by asking a lower court for a declaratory judgment and by describing the source as a whistleblower.

The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected a prosecutor’s effort to force The Free Press [Mankato, Minn.] to turn over its unpublished notes from a telephone interview with a gunman.

The high court let stand the appeals court decision, which held that the newspaper did not have to comply with a subpoena to provide the information because of the reporter’s privilege granted by the state’s shield law.

This week, Kansas' Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from supporters of a  proposed shield law (Senate Bill 313). 

State Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt (R-Independence) sponsored the bill, which seeks to protect journalists from having to reveal confidential sources or turn over unpublished notes. The bill also incorporates a test to determine when the sources or information should be revealed.

Maine's House Judiciary Committee has approved a shield law that would protect journalists from being forced to reveal their confidential sources.

State Rep. Jon Hinck (D-Portland) proposed the bill (LD 2047), which would give more protection to journalists using confidential sources and also shield whistleblowers who reveal illegal activities. 

Attorneys for former USA Today reporter Toni Locy will ask a federal appeals court today for a stay of a contempt order for failing to cooperate in former Army scientist Steven J. Hatfill’s Privacy Act suit against the government.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) sent a letter to party leaders on Thursday calling for a swift vote on a federal shield law, which was approved by the Judiciary Committee in October but  has stalled since then.

Alabama state Sen. Jabo Waggoner is sponsoring a bill that would protect magazine writers from revealing confidential sources in court.

Tennessee’s shield law may be put to the test if blogger Thaddeus Matthews is subpoenaed in connection to a leak surrounding a police officer’s murder.

Although no subpoena has been issued, Matthews has gained the support of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) legal counsel today in the case he is confronted with one.

A new reporter’s shield law in Hawaii passed the state House Committee on Judiciary last week and is expected to be taken up by the full House sometime soon. The bill would protect “journalists or newscasters who have met applicable standards of journalism ethics."