Federal Shield Law on Hold

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas
Photo by Harry Cabluck,. (c) 2006 Associated Press

by Naomi P

The proposed federal shield law, which would protect journalists from fines or jail time for refusing to divulge their sources in federal court cases, has come to a standstill in the Senate, the Austin American-Statesman reported Monday at www.Statesman.com. The sticking point centers on the definition of a journalist and how that might relate to national security.

On one hand, allowing the government to define what a journalist is can have the effect of relinquishing the independence of a free press. As Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in the article, “I don't want people to say the government is, in fact, licensing journalists.” However, a law too broad could “give cover to a criminal or terrorist group mining classified information under the guise of journalism,” which is Cornyn’s concern on the other hand, the Statesman reported. “ ‘I don't want some jihadist self-designated as a journalist,’ he said. ‘The question, in this sort of new era we're in, is who is a journalist?’ ” (quoted in the Statesman)

Senior members of President Bush’s Cabinet are worried that a federal shield law would encourage the leaking of classified information and make prosecution of those who break the law in doing so it nearly impossible, according to the article in the Statesman.