US Congress mulls press shield law as reporter wallows in jail

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 7/20/05 | AFP - Washington

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US senators wrestle with a plan to shield journalists who protect anonymous sources, as a top reporter languishes in jail, still defying the courts in a politically charged leak probe.

Judith Miller of the New York Times will mark two weeks of time served for refusing to divulge her source in a legal showdown which has mushroomed into a bona fide scandal, centering on White House political guru Karl Rove.

She went to jail rather than tell a special prosecutor who outed CIA agent Valerie Plame, supposedly as an act of revenge after her husband alleged President George W. Bush stretched the truth to wage war on Iraq.

Miller reportedly had a tough time adapting to prison life, sharing a cell in prison in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington.

"It has definitely dawned on her that this is really in jail -- it is certainly no summer camp," New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller told Editor and Publisher, a newspaper industry trade paper on Monday.

"The food has not agreed with her and we have been trying to impress on her that she needs to eat. We have been hammering that in."

The New York Times did not respond to calls for comment on Miller's plight on Tuesday.

As Miller paid the price for what supporters say is a brave defense of press freedoms, senior US Senators prepared for a hearing on a bill which would shield reporters who refuse to divulge anonymous sources.

The Free Flow of Information Act, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, would prevent federal agencies from forcing a journalist to spill the name of a confidential source.

"The free flow of information is an essential element of democracy," said Senator Richard Lugar, one of the bill's co-sponsors.

"Compelling reporters to testify and, in particular, forcing them to reveal the identity of their confidential sources without extraordinary circumstances, hurts the public interest."

Lugar's spokesman, Andy Fisher, said that 12 senators had so far co-signed the bill, at a time of high political tension over the leak probe.

Lugar unveiled a new draft after critics said that barring courts from forcing reporters to name sources could pose a security risk.

The new text says disclosure can only be compelled if all non-media avenues of enquiry were exhausted and disclosure would prevent "imminent and actual harm to national security."

Opponents of the Lugar bill argue journalists should not have special protection unavailable to others, politicians or lawyers for instance.

But press freedom watchdog "Reporters Without Borders" warned in a letter to Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter the Miller case highlighted a "major judicial flaw."

Thirty-one states have so-called "shield laws", which uphold the right to maintain confidentiality of sources. But there is no such provision in the federal court system.

"This case also raises fears that many journalists could lose some of their informants, thereby jeopardizing the press's role as a counterbalance," Reporters Without Borders said.

Miller was sent to jail on July 6, after being found in civil contempt of court.

She is expected to serve at least until the mandate of the grand jury expires in October, and supporters fear expanded criminal contempt proceedings could follow.

Plame was first identified in a column by veteran reporter Robert Novak in 2003, which cited senior administration officials.

Her husband, former US ambassador to Iraq Joseph Wilson, claimed she was outed as punishment for his contradiction of Bush's assertion in the 2003 State of the Union address that Saddam Hussein sought yellowcake uranium from Africa.

Miller researched the story, but didn't write it.

Another reporter, Matthew Cooper of Time magazine received a last minute waiver from Rove to testify before the grand jury, after his magazine overruled him and handed over notes and documents naming the source to the grand jury.

[NormsRevenge]

Judith Miller is wallowing?

pigs wallow..

---

Judith Miller of the New York Times, seen here 06 July 2005, will mark two weeks of time served for refusing to divulge her source in a legal showdown which has mushroomed into a bona fide scandal, centering on White House political guru Karl Rove(AFP/File/Paul J. Richards)

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Time Magazine journalist Matthew Cooper speaks during a hearing on reporters' shield legislation at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC July 20, 2005. The Bush administration on July 20 opposed federal legislation to protect journalists from having to reveal confidential sources because it would create 'serious impediments' to law enforcement and fighting terrorism. Photo by Yuri Gripas/Reuters

Hey, Senator? Where's MY Subway sandwich?

[NormsRevenge]

Time magazine journalist Matthew Cooper speaks to the press 06 July 2005 after leaving court in Washington, DC. Cooper revealed that he first learned from top White House official Karl Rove that the wife of an ambassador who criticized the Bush administration worked at the CIA.(AFP/File/Mandel Ngan)

"Yes. It's all coming back to me now."

[kingu]

Senators? What, Barbara Boxer, John Kerry, Edward Kennedy? DOA legislation walking...

[NormsRevenge]

[NormsRevenge]

Anti-leak legislation?

Is Leaky leahy co-sponsoring it?

[digger48]

Something notably missing in this, that we got so used to in the 90's.

How many times has this White House claimed "Executive Privilege" in this, or any other "scandal".

Bubba and the Beast tied up every request for months.

[thoughtomator]

It would be an outrage to put reporters - who as a class have been outrageously irresponsible over the past 70 years as I personally can document, and likely since the institution of the profession - above the law. Media is not the fourth branch of government; it would be suicidal for the GOP to grant, de facto, this status.

[concerned about politics]

She is expected to serve at least until the mandate of the grand jury expires in October, and supporters fear expanded criminal contempt proceedings could follow.

The court is not fooling around. They're saying if she doesn't spill the beans, her contempt could go criminal. My bet is she'll talk.
Leaking Plame wasn't a crime, so there's really something going on I'd love to know about. Darn! What crime are they tracking? ARG!

I don't think a bill to save reporters if they've committed a crime or they're covering up a crime will pass. That would make them above the laws the rest of us have to follow.

[Paloma_55]

What if she is not protecting a government source?

What if she is protecting another member of the media?

[digger48]

It's someone the Rats and the MSM really, really don't want known.

The suspense is killing me!

[concerned about politics]

It's someone the Rats and the MSM really, really don't want known.

Yeah. They're protecting her. If it were about Rove, they'd be screaming "Off with her head!"

[claudiustg]

---"The food has not agreed with her and we have been trying to impress on her that she needs to eat. We have been hammering that in."---

Is it true her lawyers are trying to get her transferred to Gitmo? :^)

[concerned about politics]

---"The food has not agreed with her and we have been trying to impress on her that she needs to eat. We have been hammering that in."---

Knowing you're going to be a target of the Arkansas Chinese Mafia when you get out can be a pretty upsetting thing.

[Sgt_Schultze]

What if she is protecting another member of the media?

That's the secret she is protecting. I have heard the tv boobs use the phrase, "Some people are saying..." and I believe it is to cover what is conversational in the break room at the station. They try to make it sound as if they have had real clandestine interviews with shadowy informants instead of Chet the weather guy.

[NormsRevenge]

LOL..

It sounds pretty good.

I hear a bunch of leftie hollywood stars and food connoisseurs are trying to get reservations there as well. ;-)

[Psycho_Bunny]

I've got a lot to say about reporters - who claim some sacred shield-right holding them above and beyond the rest of us - and most of it centers on variations of where they can go and what they can kiss on the long road there.

[Nick Danger]

I am against this until we are sure that we understand what happened here. The possibility exists that a rogue unit in the CIA decided to conduct its very own foreign policy that was at odds with that of the elected government. In doing this, they appear to have leaked substantial quantities of classified information to reporters.

The leaks continue; today Walter Pincus of the Washington Post tells us about the contents of a classified State Department memo.

If we have rogue elements in the CIA, they are a threat to our ability to govern ourselves. They need to be exposed, not further hidden.

[Republican Wildcat]

Who is Judith Miller covering up for? That's the question.

[flaglady47]

Who is Judith Miller covering up for? That's the question.

Maybe she's covering up for herself. She's the leak.

[concerned about politics]

According to Mary Madalin(?) today on FOX, the WH didn't know who Wilson was, who sent him, why he went there, and why he reported his findings to the press.

Remember, the uranium mines in Africa are controlled by the U.N., France, and Germany - all anti-Bush, just like Wilson.
My guess is he didn't go there to find information. Wilson went there to deliver information.