Appeals Court Reverses Ruling That Negated Pennsylvania Shield Law

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A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled that a reporter may protect the identity of a source used in a story about a grand jury investigation into alleged prison brutality. The court reversed a lower court ruling that said a Scranton Times Tribune reporter must disclose his source for stories on a grand jury investigation of the Lackawanna County Prison. The three-judge panel said there was no exemption from the state’s reporter’s shield law that would allow the courts to force the source to be identified. (1/4/07)