[HN Gopher] Judge holds journalist in civil contempt for refusin...
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       Judge holds journalist in civil contempt for refusing to divulge
       source
        
       Author : woldemariam
       Score  : 34 points
       Date   : 2024-03-02 21:02 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (apnews.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (apnews.com)
        
       | 29athrowaway wrote:
       | What is the law that requires divulging a source? How would that
       | law be constitutional as per the first amendment?
        
         | bombcar wrote:
         | It's the fifth that mainly comes into play; you CAN be
         | compelled to testify; just not against yourself (or close
         | family, etc).
         | 
         | (The case is weirder in that it's basically a suit _against the
         | government_ that wants the info revealed, not the government.
         | Obviously the judge wants someone higher than him to rule on
         | it.)
        
       | nabla9 wrote:
       | Background information: Reporter's privilege in the US
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reporter%27s_privilege
       | 
       | Internationally, United Nations, Council of Europe, and OSCE
       | recognize journalists' right to protect their sources. The
       | European Court of Human Rights has established source protection
       | as essential component of freedom of expression in several cases.
        
       | gnabgib wrote:
       | Bit of discussion 6 hours ago [0] (19points, 7 comments) - this
       | is the same text, different syndication.
       | 
       | [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39573032
        
       | pests wrote:
       | I'm a bit torn, it is complicated.
       | 
       | A government employee potentially illegally doxxed someone by
       | giving their personal information to a journalist.
       | 
       | That someone wants to find out who it was using the only way they
       | know how - asking the journalist who gave them the information.
       | 
       | Sources usually deserve protection, but if they were breaking the
       | law and causing harm... is it warranted?
       | 
       | Not breaking the law like Snowden for the benefit of all, but to
       | target a specific individual?
        
         | Workaccount2 wrote:
         | It's not worth charging/fining the reporter solely because of
         | the distrust it will instill in all other confidential sources
         | _regardless of the facts surrounding this particular case_.
         | 
         | Nobody wants to consult a lawyer before talking to a reporter
         | to see if that reporter might be held in contempt. So they
         | simply won't talk to the reporter.
         | 
         | The judge might win this one, but society on the whole will
         | lose.
        
           | pests wrote:
           | So she must be the sacrifice?
           | 
           | Where are these arguments for the betterment of society when
           | all the NIMBYs pop up?
        
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       (page generated 2024-03-02 23:01 UTC)