[Mb-civic] A Shield for Journalists - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

A Shield for Journalists

Friday, July 1, 2005; Page A24

IT WAS NOT surprising that the Supreme Court declined on Monday to take 
up the case of two reporters facing jail time for refusing to testify 
about the leak of Valerie Plame's status as a covert intelligence 
operative. But the decision brought to a head a dangerous confrontation 
between the needs of prosecutors and the ability of the press to do the 
job the public expects of it. The court left Judith Miller of the New 
York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine facing a terrible choice 
between testifying about a confidential source or going to jail for 
contempt of court. Yesterday, Time Inc. -- which had also been held in 
contempt for refusing to turn over documents related to Mr. Cooper's 
source -- announced that it was complying with the court order. This 
could relieve Mr. Cooper's situation, either by making his testimony 
unnecessary or by rendering moot his resistance to revealing his 
source's identity. But Ms. Miller's predicament remains.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/30/AR2005063001653.html
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