Shield Law

A New Jersey judge ruled last week that a blogger does not qualify for protection under the state's shield law.

A documentary filmmaker in Hawaii who has covered native burial practices might be the first person to assert the state's new shield law, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

A Kentucky woman is seeking the identity of an Internet commenter who she says defamed her on a newspaper forum, The Courier-Journal of Louisville reports. The newspaper is trying to use Kentucky's shield law to protect the commenter's information. 

Attorney General Eric Holder told senators Wednesday that the Department of Justice would support a media shield law as long as it did not hamper government's efforts to protect national security and to discover the identities of people who leak classified information.

Lawyers for a Montana State University professor are trying to force the Bozeman Daily Chronicle to hand over notes related to its reporting on her discrimination lawsuit against the school, and the identities of commenters who wrote on its Web site, the paper reports.

The newly enacted Texas shield law is already being put to use, with a reporter for a Corpus Christi television station successfully invoking it to avoid having to testify in a sexual assault case.

Two Wisconsin lawmakers have introduced a shield law in the legislature, The Associated Press reports. State Sen. Pat Kreitlow -- a former television and radio reporter -- and Rep. Joe Parisi are co-sponsoring a bill that would give journalists a qualified privilege to avoid testifying about their sources.

Judges could still order reporters to testify when the information is "highly relevant" to the case or one of the party's claims, the AP reports.

A student journalist who witnessed a killing in San Francisco is trying to use California's shield law to protect his work., the San Francisco Chronicle reports. 

A judge in Illinois has rejected the Alton Telegraph's argument that the identities of anonymous commenters on a newspaper's Web site are protected by the state's shield law, The Associated Press reports.

Texas has become the 37th state to enact a reporter’s shield law.

Gov. Rick Perry signed House Bill 670 on Wednesday, bringing a reporter's privilege to the state just weeks after it was approved unanimously by both the Senate and the House. It is effective immediately.