Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)
Editorial
Feb. 18, 2007
Excerpt:
[BALCO case U.S. District] Judge [Jeffrey] White's reasoning in holding the reporters in contempt ran
counter to a 1996 Supreme Court ruling that federal judges could
protect a journalist's right to shield confidential sources when the
value of the reporting outweighs the harm that might be caused by the
disclosure. Yet many Americans might well agree with Judge White and
ask why journalists deserve the privilege of being above the law.
That
answer is easy. It's called the First Amendment, which this nation's
forefathers carefully crafted to ensure that government would not have
sole power to monitor its actions. And while a story about baseball and
steroids might not seem to fit such a criterion, the opposite is true.
Just look at how far the courts were prepared to go to punish reporters
who served the public good.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several other congressional leaders are
said to favor a federal shield law similar to that in most states,
including New York. But they have to stop talking and start acting.
They have to get a federal shield law passed as soon as possible --
before government tries once again to intimidate the press.
