Reporters can be jailed, Appellate Court says
'''[[Wikinews:2005/February/19|February 19]], [[Wikinews:2005|2005]]''' &nbsp;

[[w:Judith Miller (journalist)|Judith Miller]] of [[w:The New York Times|The New York Times]] and Matthew Cooper of [[w:TIME|Time magazine]] can be jailed for refusing to reveal their sources to a [[w:United States|U.S.]] federal [[w:grand jury|grand jury]], according to the decision of the [[w:United States court of appeals|U.S. Court of Appeals]] in [[w:United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit|Washington D.C.]]

The reporters were among those approached with information about [[w:Valerie Plame|Valerie Plame]] as a [[w:Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] employee, and have refused to testify before an inquiry into the leak of national security information. Neither reporter actually wrote an article about Ms. Plame, whose identity was actually broken by [[w:Robert Novak|Robert Novak]] in a July 14, 2003 column in the [[w:Chicago Sun-Times|Chicago Sun-Times]], but they have been the target of Special Counsel [[w:Patrick Fitzgerald|Patrick Fitzgerald]] of [[w:U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois|Illinois]].

The U.S. Intelligence Identities Act makes it illegal to reveal the identity of CIA officers. However, the three-judge panel's decision on Tuesday upheld a lower court's ruling last year that Ms. Miller and Mr. Cooper should answer confidential conversations with government sources. Citing secret evidence presented by Mr. Fitzgerald, the panel said this case differs from the classic uncovering of wrongdoing by reporters relying on unnamed sources.

== Sources ==

* {{source|title=Court of Appeals upholds jail sentence for two journalists who protected their sources
|url=http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=12565
|author=
|pub=Reporters Without Borders
|date=16 February 2005}}
* {{source|title=Judge Rules Against Reporters Who Would Not Reveal Sources
|url=http://npr.streamsage.com/google/programlist/feature.php?wfid=://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4500547
|author=
|pub=National Public Radio
|date=15 Feb 2005}} ([http://www.npr.org/dmg/dmg.php?prgCode=ME&showDate=15-Feb-2005&segNum=17&NPRMediaPref=RM&getAd=1 audio][[Image:loudspeaker.png]])
* {{source|title=Court: Reporters must reveal sources
|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0502160262feb16,1,6644359.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
|author=Carol D. Leonnig
|pub=Washington Post
|date=February 16, 2005}}
* {{source|title=Chilling court decisions should prompt Congress to help reporters protect sources
|url=http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/all-editorial1feb18,0,3857597.story?coll=all-newsopinion-hed
|author=
|pub=Morning Call
|date=February 18, 2005}}

 
 {{archive}}
[[Category:February 19, 2005]]
[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:Crime and law]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Published]]
[[Category:CIA]]
'February 19, 2005'  

Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine can be jailed for refusing to reveal their sources to a U.S. federal grand jury, according to the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C.

The reporters were among those approached with information about Valerie Plame as a CIA employee, and have refused to testify before an inquiry into the leak of national security information. Neither reporter actually wrote an article about Ms. Plame, whose identity was actually broken by Robert Novak in a July 14, 2003 column in the Chicago Sun-Times, but they have been the target of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald of Illinois.

The U.S. Intelligence Identities Act makes it illegal to reveal the identity of CIA officers. However, the three-judge panel's decision on Tuesday upheld a lower court's ruling last year that Ms. Miller and Mr. Cooper should answer confidential conversations with government sources. Citing secret evidence presented by Mr. Fitzgerald, the panel said this case differs from the classic uncovering of wrongdoing by reporters relying on unnamed sources.
February 19, 2005 Politics and conflicts Crime and law United States Published CIA