Federal Shield Law Passes House Judiciary Committee (Again)

 

WASHINGTON, DC (March 25, 2009) – The House Judiciary Committee has again passed a federal shield law for journalists which will now go to the House for a full vote.

The Free Flow of Information Act (HR 985) passed the House Judiciary Committee where the chairman, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) has said they are committed to "swift action" on the bill this year.

Last year the federal shield law passed overwhelmingly in the House (398-21) but stalled in the Senate at the end of the session after the Bush Administration and their Justice Department opposed it, claiming that it would give too much protection to whistle blowers and posed a threat to national security.

Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) is one of the shield law's biggest backers and today he said the Republican's objections were ill founded, that the bill's protections are "not absolute" and that there are exceptions to it when the information is classified materials or could pose a harm to national security, and that a judge would be the arbitrator to balance the public's right to know against those factors in each individual case.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) opposes the federal shield law – possibly an odd stance for a former reporter – by saying that the First Amendment protects journalists and that "only 17 journalists" have been jailed in the past two decades for refusing to testify before grand juries, which he doesn't think is too many.

Smith also said that he thinks it is "unseemly" for journalism organizations to be calling and writing elected officials seeking their support for a federal shield law because it is "obviously in their own self interest."

Despite the posturing of some Republicans, there is wide-spread support for this year's federal shield law to pass and Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) sent a letter to fellow Republicans this week asking them to support the legislation.

Last month a similar measure was reintroduced in the Senate (S 448) by Senator Alren Specter (R-PA), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (which also passed an identical bill last year by a strong bipartisan vote).

 

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