Sen. Chuck Schumer is a fast-talking New York Democrat who is trying to have it both ways on protecting journalists and their sources from government intimidation and prosecution. Schumer said recently he has enough votes to gain Senate passage of his Free Flow of Information Act that would supposedly strengthen such protection. President Obama has also endorsed it. It’s not clear whether House Republican leaders will go along. Schumer clearly wants journalists to think he is trying to lend them a helping hand, but his bill may actually make it easier for federal prosecutors to force disclosure of their sources.
Hardly anybody disagrees with the proposition that the First Amendment protects the right of journalists to receive information from government sources and to report about it. Journalists’ sources, however, can be prosecuted if they can be identified. The information they leaked must also have been classified and releasing it must have damaged national security or compromised an ongoing law enforcement investigation. For that reason, there is constant tension between the media and government on the issue of whether journalists can or should be compelled to reveal their sources when classified documents or information are involved.
