Legal News

The Free Flow of Information Act 2007, introduced by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Richard Lugar (R-IN) last month, will be considered today by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Saying the bill "would bring the federal government in line with 49 states and the District of Columbia," the Washington Post editorializes for its passage: "The legislation has gone through many constructive changes since it was first introduced in 2005 and deserves to become law." In addition to its opinion, the Post also runs opposing op-eds about the shield law. U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald argues that the bill "poses unique obstacles to the protection of national security," and that the system isn't broken to begin with: "A compelling case has not been made for jettisoning the legal framework that has guided this process for the past 35 years," he writes. Yet former U.S. solicitor general Theodore B. Olson disagrees. "From the Valerie Plame imbroglio to the Wen Ho Lee case, it is now de rigueur to round up reporters, haul them before a court and threaten them with fines and jail sentences unless they reveal their sources," he writes. "The legislation would not give reporters special license beyond the type of common-sense protection we already accord to communications between lawyers and clients, between spouses and in other contexts where we believe some degree of confidentiality furthers societal goals. [It] is well balanced and long overdue, and it should be enacted." UPDATE: The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill this afternoon by a 15-2 vote.

"It is past time for Congress to act" on a federal shield law, the New York Times editorializes. While saying the compromise bill introduced earlier this month "does not contain everything we would have liked," the Times notes that "passage of a federal shield law would be a major achievement." The bill may get a mark-up in the Senate Judiciary Committee as early as this week. AAN is a member of the Shield Law Coalition, and encourages its members in states with senators on the Judiciary Committee to call their senators in support of the bill.

The Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 "seeks to reconcile reporters' need to maintain confidentiality, in order to ensure that sources will speak openly and freely, with the public's right to effective law enforcement and fair trials," according to a press release. The bill was introduced Monday by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Richard Lugar (R-IN). "It is time to simplify the patchwork of court decisions and legislation that has grown over the last three decades," Specter says. "It is time for Congress to clear up the ambiguities journalists and the federal judicial system face in balancing the protections journalists need in providing confidential information to the public with the ability of the courts to conduct fair and accurate trials." The bill modifies earlier shield law legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), and in the Senate by Sen. Lugar and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).

The American Bar Association's Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions has withdrawn proposed resolutions which sought to limit public access to criminal justice system records, according to a press release issued by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. "We appreciate that the commission heard our concerns and took a second look at the dire effect these recommendations would have had on transparency in government," Reporters Committee executive director Lucy Dalglish says.

On Friday, when the Senate finally got to vote on the OPEN Government Act of 2007 (S. 849), they unanimously approved the bill and advanced it to the House. The bill had been blocked from a floor vote for months by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who was acting as a legislative conduit of the Department of Justice, which had several objections to the FOIA reforms. The legislation would be the first major reform to FOIA in more than a decade if passed by the House, which already approved a similar bill (H.R. 1309) by an overwhelming vote of 308-117. "FOIA will still be far from perfect with these changes, but they do provide important new tools that will help requesters get public information faster and hold agencies more accountable when they don't comply with the law," says Dave Tomlin, associate general counsel for The Associated Press.

The House Judiciary Committee yesterday passed H.R. 2102, a bill that would provide federal protection for journalists' confidential sources. A press release issued by a coalition of more than 40 media companies and organizations that support the measure, including AAN, applauded the committee's action. “The Free Flow of Information Act establishes important ground rules that balance the public interest in both the free flow of information and the fair administration of justice," says Paul Boyle, senior vice president of public policy at the Newspaper Association of America. "By enacting a federal shield law, the Congress can ensure that all parties -- journalists, sources, prosecutors, civil litigants and courts alike -- can rely on consistent and well-articulated standards of procedure.”

The American Bar Association is considering resolutions that would "drastically limit public access to criminal justice system records," according to a press release issued by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. One of the ABA recommendations would urge federal, state and local governments to limit access to closed criminal-case files that didn't result in a conviction; another seeks to seal conviction records "after passage of a specified period of law-abiding conduct." The ABA's House of Delegates will vote on the resolution Aug. 13-14. The Reporters Committee urges news outlets to report and comment on the matter in advance to make ABA delegates aware of media and public concerns.