Yesterday, the Associated Press released an article on the First Amendment Center Web site, "Senate Panel Endorses Shield Law", which discusses a shield law bill that has been approved to go to the Senate floor. This bill will protect journalists from being forced to reveal their sources, especially in federal court. The Judiciary Committee, in a vote of 15-2 sent this bill to floor of the Senate, where it will be debated and either adopted or discarded.Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives, told Associated Press editors that she hopes to bring a similar bill before the house, to be voted upon before the end of this year.
"This is fundamental to our democracy and fundamental to the
security of our country." Pelosi said.
Opponents of the bill, namely the members of the Bush Administration, fear that a national shield law would be a threat to national security. The Administration fears that this law would impede intelligence agents from tracing threats to national security. This bill creates a conflict of interest between supporters of the shield law and the Bush Administration. Supporters of this bill include many new companies, the Associated Press included.
The bill does have exemptions to the protection that is offers. For instance, this law wouldn't apply when it involves the issue of terrorism. Journalists could still be forced to reveal their sources in certain circumstances.
This shield law, if passed, would give journalists the must needed protection that they need. Journalists would in turn be able to protect their sources, without running the risk of going to jail. This shield law would be a great help to journalists, however its protection is not absolute.
No comments:
Post a Comment