Is the Time Right for a Federal Reporters Shield Law?
What do these four people have in common: Vanessa Leggett, Judith Miller, Jim Taricani, and Josh Wolf? They are the poster children for the Free Flow of Information Act: reporters who were imprisoned for an aggregate of 19 months because there is no uniform Federal shield law to protect reporters’ sources. In February, the Free Flow of Information Act was introduced in both houses of Congress with bipartisan support. The bill is substantially the same as one that passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming 398-21 vote in 2008. Although President Bush had threatened to veto it if passed by the Senate, President Obama and Attorney General Holder have both expressed support for the bill. Thus, it appears that it has a chance for passage as that rarest of all things in Washington: a bill with truly bipartisan support. The rationale for a Federal reporters’ shield law was articulated by Theodore Olson, Solicitor General in the Bush administration, at a hearing on the bill in 2006
