speak or go to jail

S

SmarterthanYou

rebel
http://www.buzzfeed.com/hunterschwarz/a-fox-news-reporter-faces-off-with-court-over-her-sources-an

A Fox News reporter is facing jail time over her refusal to reveal a source she used in a story, an episode receiving remarkably little attention in the mainstream press — and prompting suggestions on the right that the media and advocates are ignoring Jana Winter's plight because of hostility to her employer.

Jana Winter, a reporter for FoxNews.com and former New York Post reporter, reported on July 25 on a notebook alleged Aurora, Colorado, shooter James Holmes sent to a University of Colorado psychologist "full of details about how he was going to kill people."

In Winter's story, she described the notebook, indicating it included illustrations of a massacre drawn using stick figures. The notebook and other items in a package the alleged shooter sent to the psychologist were "made subject to a protective order," according to court documents filed in Arapahoe County Courthouse.

The court has subpoenaed Winter to give testimony in the case.

Holmes' defense attorney indicated the confidential source in Winter's story violated the court's order to limit pretrial publicity, and efforts to discover who the source was have been unsuccessful, according to court documents. Colorado's shield law protects reporters from being jailed for refusing to name sources but allows judges to compel disclosure if the identity of the source cannot be obtained by other means.
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well, who's going to stand up for the 1st Amendment? or are you saps going to ignore it this time because of the defendant Holmes?
 
This doesn't have anything to do with the 1st amendment. Witnesses can and often are compelled to give testimony in court, you're only protected against this if the testimony would incriminate yourself, because of the 5th amendment. Some states have laws ​that gives journalists certain protections such as allowing them to refrain from divulging sources, simply out of an interest in protecting journalistic integrity, but, again, this is not a requirement of the 1st amendment, and states can vary in how much protection they offer, from no law at all to unqualified protection to partial protection, as in Colorado. If you want total protection, ask the Colorado state legislature, if you want to fight the law, argue how it isn't being followed in this instance. If you try to make it a first amendment case, you're going to lose.
 
Colorado Constitution, Section 10. Freedom of speech and press. No law shall be passed impairing the freedom of speech; every person shall be free to speak, write or publish whatever he will on any subject, being responsible for all abuse of that liberty; and in all suits and prosecutions for libel the truth thereof may be given in evidence, and the jury, under the direction of the court, shall determine the law and the fact. I see nothing in there about compelling the press to reveal knowledge of information nor against self incrimination.
 
SmarterthanYou said:
Colorado Constitution, Section 10. Freedom of speech and press. No law shall be passed impairing the freedom of speech; every person shall be free to speak, write or publish whatever he will on any subject, being responsible for all abuse of that liberty; and in all suits and prosecutions for libel the truth thereof may be given in evidence, and the jury, under the direction of the court, shall determine the law and the fact. I see nothing in there about compelling the press to reveal knowledge of information nor against self incrimination.
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Colorado's shield law protects reporters from being jailed for refusing to name sources but allows judges to compel disclosure if the identity of the source cannot be obtained by other means.
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is this your way of saying that you approve of the government telling us how far our rights really go, no matter that we the people made the government?
 
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