11/19/2022 0 Comments Compendium definition![]() The hows & whys of the reporter’s privilege If your news organization does not have an attorney, or if you are not affiliated with an established organization, the Reporters Committee can help you try to find an attorney in your area. You should always consult an attorney before trying to negotiate with a party who wants to obtain your testimony or when appearing in court to get a subpoena quashed or testifying. Journalists should note that reading this guide is not meant as a substitute for working with a licensed attorney in your state when you try to have a subpoena quashed. Compiled by lawyers who have handled these cases and helped shape the law in their states and federal circuits, this guide is meant to help both journalists who want to know more about the reporter’s privilege and lawyers who need to know the ins and outs of getting a subpoena quashed. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press decided that something could be done about this, and thus this project was born. #Compendium definition how toEven attorneys who handle a newspaper’s libel suits may not be familiar with the law on the reporter’s privilege in the state.īecause of these difficulties, reporters and their lawyers often don’t have access to the best information on how to fight a subpoena. In addition, many reporters don’t work with attorneys who are familiar with this topic. Freelancers are covered in some states, but not others. Some privileges cover non-confidential information, some don’t. In others, courts have found the privilege based on a constitutional right. Sometimes, the privilege is based on a statute enacted by the legislature - a shield law. But in every jurisdiction, the parameters of that right are different. Most states and federal circuits have some sort of reporter’s privilege - the right to refuse to testify - that allows journalists to keep their sources confidential. The jailing of Vanessa Leggett underscores a problem that journalists have faced for decades: give up your source or go to jail. Department of Justice, which is supposed to approve all subpoenas of journalists, said it did not get involved because, by its definition, an unpublished author is not a journalist. Leggett went to jail because the federal judge overseeing the grand jury found that there was no reporter’s privilege in the Fifth Circuit, the federal court circuit that includes Texas. #Compendium definition freeIt’s about the public’s right to a free and independent press.” “If that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes. Greeted at her release by a throng of reporters, Leggett said she would be more than willing to go back to jail if she were subpoenaed again. “I feel like what they are doing is wrong.” Almost six months later, her commitment had not wavered. “I just feel like I’m doing what I have to do to protect my First Amendment right to freedom of the press,” Leggett told an Associated Press reporter on her way to turning herself in. In the end, Vanessa Leggett spent 168 days in jail, longer than any American journalist had ever been held for refusing to respond to a subpoena, and was only released when the term of the grand jury before whom she was supposed to testify expired. In July 2001, an unpublished author working on a book about a Houston murder went to jail rather than turn over the information she had collected and the identities of the sources who gave it to her. The outline starts with the basics of the privilege, then the procedure and law for quashing a subpoena, and concludes with appeals and a handful of other issues. Read up on your state’s policies, or search every state based on one of the outline points or any keyword.Įvery state chapter is based on the same standard outline to allow easy comparisons between state laws. The Reporter’s Privilege Compendium, first posted online in 2002, is the most detailed examination available of the reporter’s privilege - the right not to be compelled to reveal sources or materials in court - in every state and federal circuit. RCFP attorneys authored this introduction, with special thanks to legal intern Britland Kenworthy. ![]()
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