Detroit Reporter Ordered to Discloses Sources for Prosecutor Misconduct Story

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A Detroit Free Press reporter has been ordered to reveal the names of confidential sources who provided him information on prosecutorial misconduct in a 2004 terrorism case. Federal Judge Robert Cleland held that Michigan’s reporter-source shield law did not apply because the U.S. Sixth Circuit “has explicitly declined to recognize a qualified First Amendment privilege for reporters.” He also said the name of reporter David Ashenfelter’s source was critical to the case moving forward in the federal courts. (9/4/08)