More Reporters Being Held Accountable
Even in the Barry Bonds case:
A federal judge in San Francisco ruled Tuesday that two reporters must reveal who provided them with secret grand jury testimony of Barry Bonds and other star athletes on steroid use.
Attorneys for the San Francisco Chronicle reporters had tried to quash a subpoena to appear before a grand jury investigating the leak. They argued that forcing journalists to disclose their sources would undermine the 1st Amendment and the ability of the news media to gather news.
…
But he ultimately agreed with federal prosecutors that journalists have no special protection from grand jury inquiries, citing the 1972 Supreme Court decision in Branzburg vs. Hayes, as well as subsequent rulings from appellate courts
There is no blanket “first amendment privilege” for journalists (“There’s not even a right of journalists to protect leakers under the U.S. Constitution, despite journalists’ representations..”). That is a fiction perpetrated by people wishing to elevate themselves above the law. While of course lecturing the rest of us on lawlessness, mainly by conservatives.
This appears to be part of a trend where those wishing to break the law (more on that here) are held accountable. And that is a good thing.
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